First published 1978
Dr. Sarah Mitchell adjusts her safety goggles as another experiment fails in her university laboratory. The research that should secure her tenure seems to slip further away with each botched synthesis. Her colleagues whisper about budget cuts and position eliminations while she struggles with reactions that refuse to behave according to textbook predictions. When a promising graduate student joins her team, Sarah must decide whether to share her unconventional theories about molecular behavior. The student brings fresh energy but also dangerous ambition that threatens to expose Sarah's past mistakes. As departmental politics intensify and her funding deadline approaches, Sarah discovers that the most volatile reactions happen between people, not chemicals. She learns that scientific truth matters less than the courage to defend it.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, chemistry, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: University
Period: 21st-century
480 pages · Paperback · Nelson Thornes (Publishers) Ltd