Call number
FIC GIL
Collection
Genres
Publication
Riverhead Books (2013), Edition: First Edition, 512 pages
Description
" A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed. In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker-a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry's brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father's money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma's research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction-into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist-but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life. Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe-from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who-born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution-bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas. Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert's. "Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker--a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry's brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father's money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma's research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction--into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist--but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life. he story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who--born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution--bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas"-- wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers. "--… (more)
Media reviews
Should finally redefine Gilbert as a writer with an incredible sense of lyricism, and a rare command of and confidence in her story...She makes broad, unresolvable premises — regular-ish human life, with its aspirations and humiliations, her own or her character’s — look easy, by taking
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nothing for granted, making sharp and unrelenting observations and framing it with a rare positivity and sense of possibility. Show Less
Gilbert has established herself as a straight-up storyteller who dares us into adventures of worldly discovery, and this novel stands as a winning next act. “The Signature of All Things” is a bracing homage to the many natures of genius and the inevitable progress of ideas, in a world that
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reveals its best truths to the uncommonly patient minds. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member brenzi
Holy sweeping epic! Where to start? I finished this book a couple of days ago and have let it just percolate in my head because its massiveness, in more ways than one, is just so overwhelming. And it’s a book that needs to reveal its luscious beauty to each reader so I don’t want to say an
”She was her father’s daughter. It was said of her from the beginning. For one thing, Alma Whitaker looked precisely like Henry: ginger of hair, florid of skin, small of mouth, wide of brow, abundant of nose…What’s more, Alma was clever like him. Sturdy, too. A right little dromedary she was---tireless and uncomplaining. Never took ill. Stubborn. From the moment the girl learned to speak, she could not put an argument to rest…She wanted to understand the world, and she made a habit of chasing down information to its last hiding place, as though the fate of nations were at stake in every instance.” (Page 51)
Alma Whitaker is born on the cusp of the 19th century to a family of wealth in Philadelphia. Her father, Henry, worked his way up from poverty in Great Britain to be a leading botanical importer/exporter. She is an inquisitive, extremely intelligent child and enjoys her parents’ dinner table which comes alive with guests whose intellectual powers soon absorb and draw her in. Her inborn curiosity soon leads her to become a published author whose scientific knowledge of botanicals in general and mosses in particular set her on a lifelong path of scientific inquiry. Meanwhile, Alma is also on a road of self-discovery as she tries to uncover the intricacies of life itself. But then she finds herself falling in love with a man who introduces her to the spiritual world which raises many questions in her scientific mind.
Gilbert weaves the scientific with the human interest stories that surround Alma with a driving narrative that is hard to resist. Across the globe and through the century, from Peru and London to Holland and Tahiti, Gilbert doesn’t miss a beat with a driving narrative that made this book hard to put to down. Brilliantly researched, passionately written, I did not want this book to end. Very highly recommended.
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awful lot.”She was her father’s daughter. It was said of her from the beginning. For one thing, Alma Whitaker looked precisely like Henry: ginger of hair, florid of skin, small of mouth, wide of brow, abundant of nose…What’s more, Alma was clever like him. Sturdy, too. A right little dromedary she was---tireless and uncomplaining. Never took ill. Stubborn. From the moment the girl learned to speak, she could not put an argument to rest…She wanted to understand the world, and she made a habit of chasing down information to its last hiding place, as though the fate of nations were at stake in every instance.” (Page 51)
Alma Whitaker is born on the cusp of the 19th century to a family of wealth in Philadelphia. Her father, Henry, worked his way up from poverty in Great Britain to be a leading botanical importer/exporter. She is an inquisitive, extremely intelligent child and enjoys her parents’ dinner table which comes alive with guests whose intellectual powers soon absorb and draw her in. Her inborn curiosity soon leads her to become a published author whose scientific knowledge of botanicals in general and mosses in particular set her on a lifelong path of scientific inquiry. Meanwhile, Alma is also on a road of self-discovery as she tries to uncover the intricacies of life itself. But then she finds herself falling in love with a man who introduces her to the spiritual world which raises many questions in her scientific mind.
Gilbert weaves the scientific with the human interest stories that surround Alma with a driving narrative that is hard to resist. Across the globe and through the century, from Peru and London to Holland and Tahiti, Gilbert doesn’t miss a beat with a driving narrative that made this book hard to put to down. Brilliantly researched, passionately written, I did not want this book to end. Very highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member klockrike
No question, this is an excellently written book. The main characters are well-developed, detailed and mostly believable. However, I read this book not just as a book lover, but also as a professional botanist and evolutionary biologist, and to me, the author has contrived and twisted the story in
Other events, like the smuggling of quinine bark tree seeds, vanilla plantations - they are all from the true history of botany, and they are all borrowed here. It is like taking puzzle pieces of real events and then connecting them in new ways with a new player inserted (Alma and her father). It is entertaining, but what is the point? Why not come up with NEW events, a new story? This is not historical fiction either, it is some in between story
The author presents an extremely well researched book and I admire her for her accurate descriptions of science, the theory of evolution, and botanical diversity. This is in fact remarkable and a big feat, which she should get a lot of credit for. But, still, when it came to mosses, the information in the book was weak. Mosses is the main thing for Alma, and still, we have no descriptions of their variation in leaf shape edges under the microscope, no descriptions of their unique sporangia (those brown stalks on top of the green shoots), and so on. Did Gilbert not look into any moss floras? Did she not interview a bryologist for this book? Mosses are not just lush and green pillows of plants - they are so much more than that.
I did read this book with pleasure and thought it was entertaining, but in the end, the story was just contrived. Why Alma goes to Tahiti to seek out the mystery of her deceased husband after she herself condemned him to Tahiti does not make sense. And while in Tahiti, why isn't she even mentioning the vanilla plantations that her father supposedly has there? The whole sexual encounter in Tahiti is unbelievable. I have such mixed feelings about this book - I liked reading it, but I feel I can't really recommend it.
My final criticism regards the included interior images in the book, which really adds value to the story. However, nowhere in the book does it say which works and artists that made those images. The source is just the library at the New York Botanical Garden. When part of the book really is about botanical illustration and the printing of these in the 1800s, shouldn't such images that are included in the book be properly referenced?
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unbelievable ways to get the plot to fit into the 1800s scientific world and their players. It is so obvious that she has shaped many parts of Alma Whittaker's life and experiences (and her father's, and probably also Prudence, and Ambrose Pike, etc.) from existing people and events. Alma and her interest in mosses is based on the real life of Elizabeth Britton, married to botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton who was the Director of The New York Botanical Garden (albeit slightly later in time than Alma's life). Elizabeth Britton was the world expert on mosses in her time, and wrote hundreds of articles and got respect as a female scientist.Other events, like the smuggling of quinine bark tree seeds, vanilla plantations - they are all from the true history of botany, and they are all borrowed here. It is like taking puzzle pieces of real events and then connecting them in new ways with a new player inserted (Alma and her father). It is entertaining, but what is the point? Why not come up with NEW events, a new story? This is not historical fiction either, it is some in between story
The author presents an extremely well researched book and I admire her for her accurate descriptions of science, the theory of evolution, and botanical diversity. This is in fact remarkable and a big feat, which she should get a lot of credit for. But, still, when it came to mosses, the information in the book was weak. Mosses is the main thing for Alma, and still, we have no descriptions of their variation in leaf shape edges under the microscope, no descriptions of their unique sporangia (those brown stalks on top of the green shoots), and so on. Did Gilbert not look into any moss floras? Did she not interview a bryologist for this book? Mosses are not just lush and green pillows of plants - they are so much more than that.
I did read this book with pleasure and thought it was entertaining, but in the end, the story was just contrived. Why Alma goes to Tahiti to seek out the mystery of her deceased husband after she herself condemned him to Tahiti does not make sense. And while in Tahiti, why isn't she even mentioning the vanilla plantations that her father supposedly has there? The whole sexual encounter in Tahiti is unbelievable. I have such mixed feelings about this book - I liked reading it, but I feel I can't really recommend it.
My final criticism regards the included interior images in the book, which really adds value to the story. However, nowhere in the book does it say which works and artists that made those images. The source is just the library at the New York Botanical Garden. When part of the book really is about botanical illustration and the printing of these in the 1800s, shouldn't such images that are included in the book be properly referenced?
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LibraryThing member auntmarge64
An enthralling story, wonderfully written and over far too soon.
This is the life story of Alma Whittaker, a female botanist born in 1800 to a wealthy and unorthodox Philadelphia couple who train her in languages, thought, and persistence, expecting her from a young age to keep up and participate in
I hesitate to mention many of the most interesting events, because readers should discover these for themselves. Just wonderful, especially for anyone with an interest in scientific thought during this time period.
This is the life story of Alma Whittaker, a female botanist born in 1800 to a wealthy and unorthodox Philadelphia couple who train her in languages, thought, and persistence, expecting her from a young age to keep up and participate in
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their glittering intellectual dinner parties. She lives into her 9th decade, and her adventures, and those of her father, whose story is told before hers, weave together many threads of the development of evolutionary thought during the mid-1800s. Her life takes her to Tahiti and Amsterdam, through some very complicated and dramatic relationships, and finally to her own conclusions, independent of Darwin and Wallace, of the reasons for biodiversity. Wallace even makes an appearance, which was a delight. I hesitate to mention many of the most interesting events, because readers should discover these for themselves. Just wonderful, especially for anyone with an interest in scientific thought during this time period.
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LibraryThing member lit_chick
2013, Penguin Audio, Read by Juliet Stevenson
Book Description: adapted from Penguin Random House
… an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the
My Review:
Wow! The Signature of All Things is told at a roaring pace, travelling the globe from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam – its numerous eclectic characters as varied as the novel’s geography. One of things I consider when rating a novel is how long its characters will endure with me. And Gilbert has provided many whom I expect to be travelling with me for a good while. Alma Whittaker herself is unforgettable. Not least fascinating about her is the fact that she lives well into the Industrial Revolution, allowing her to participate in the explosion of new ideas challenging science, religion, and social class. Indeed, my favourite part of the novel is the interplay between herself, Charles Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace on the universal notions of origin, evolution, selection, and human altruism and self-sacrifice. Fascinating!
Admittedly, I’d never have guessed Gilbert had The Signature of All Things in her, after the self-centered tripe that was Eat, Pray, Love, and its more pathetic successor, Commitment. But her writing here, as well as her storytelling, is extraordinary. I didn’t want to put this one down! Juliet Stevenson, ever inimitable – makes an already fabulous novel even better. Highly, highly recommended!
Book Description: adapted from Penguin Random House
… an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the
Show More
enterprising Henry Whittaker – a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry’s brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father’s money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma’s research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike, a utopian artist, who draws her in the exact opposite direction – into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. The two opposites are united by a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.My Review:
Wow! The Signature of All Things is told at a roaring pace, travelling the globe from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam – its numerous eclectic characters as varied as the novel’s geography. One of things I consider when rating a novel is how long its characters will endure with me. And Gilbert has provided many whom I expect to be travelling with me for a good while. Alma Whittaker herself is unforgettable. Not least fascinating about her is the fact that she lives well into the Industrial Revolution, allowing her to participate in the explosion of new ideas challenging science, religion, and social class. Indeed, my favourite part of the novel is the interplay between herself, Charles Darwin, and Alfred Russel Wallace on the universal notions of origin, evolution, selection, and human altruism and self-sacrifice. Fascinating!
Admittedly, I’d never have guessed Gilbert had The Signature of All Things in her, after the self-centered tripe that was Eat, Pray, Love, and its more pathetic successor, Commitment. But her writing here, as well as her storytelling, is extraordinary. I didn’t want to put this one down! Juliet Stevenson, ever inimitable – makes an already fabulous novel even better. Highly, highly recommended!
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LibraryThing member gayla.bassham
The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert This is a hard book to rate, because it is chock-full of flaws, yet I fell hard for the main character. Alma is the only character in this book who is given any depth at all. Retta is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl ratcheted up a couple of notches (yes, she
But Alma comes alive. At least she did for me. I don't know quite what to make of Gilbert's insistence on Alma's physical unattractiveness--I kept wondering whether someone as smart and interesting and passionate as Alma could really be as ugly as Gilbert repeatedly tells us that she is. But I loved Alma's desire to know how everything works--everything, from her mother's accounting system to the growth of plants to the human heart. I loved that she seemed to have a perfectly productive and content life, most of the time, without being hung up on romance. I loved that there weren't a lot of scenes showing her longing for a husband and children. But most of all, for reasons I can't quite articulately explain, Alma felt very much like a real person to me and twelve hours after finishing the book, I am still trying to figure out how to manipulate the space-time continuum so that she and I can hang out and talk about moss.
There are so many problems with this book--so many things I don't like: Prudence's story, from beginning to end. Retta's story, from beginning to end. The character of Tomorrow Morning. The fact that Tomorrow Morning is named "Tomorrow Morning." The way Gilbert seems to just give up in exhaustion rather than coming up with a coherent, sensible ending. But I loved Alma, and for that reason alone, the book felt worth my time.
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is every bit as annoying as that description sounds). Prudence is an enigma until she becomes a cliche of a different sort. Henry and Ambrose and the minister are all straight from central casting.But Alma comes alive. At least she did for me. I don't know quite what to make of Gilbert's insistence on Alma's physical unattractiveness--I kept wondering whether someone as smart and interesting and passionate as Alma could really be as ugly as Gilbert repeatedly tells us that she is. But I loved Alma's desire to know how everything works--everything, from her mother's accounting system to the growth of plants to the human heart. I loved that she seemed to have a perfectly productive and content life, most of the time, without being hung up on romance. I loved that there weren't a lot of scenes showing her longing for a husband and children. But most of all, for reasons I can't quite articulately explain, Alma felt very much like a real person to me and twelve hours after finishing the book, I am still trying to figure out how to manipulate the space-time continuum so that she and I can hang out and talk about moss.
There are so many problems with this book--so many things I don't like: Prudence's story, from beginning to end. Retta's story, from beginning to end. The character of Tomorrow Morning. The fact that Tomorrow Morning is named "Tomorrow Morning." The way Gilbert seems to just give up in exhaustion rather than coming up with a coherent, sensible ending. But I loved Alma, and for that reason alone, the book felt worth my time.
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LibraryThing member spounds
Hmmm...This is one of those books with beautiful prose that draws you in, but with a storyline that makes you go "what the heck was that all about?"
It is about a woman with a fine scientific mind who can tell you everything about every kind of moss, but who is never able to attract the romantic
And then she does attract the attentions of a man, but that is just a painfully awkward story that results in a painfully awkward situation. So that's the second third of the book.
And then she takes off on a ship for the other side of the world where she discovers. Well, I'm not sure exactly what she figured out there. And that was the last third of the book.
And then it was over and I said "what the heck was that all about?"
It is about a woman with a fine scientific mind who can tell you everything about every kind of moss, but who is never able to attract the romantic
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attention of a man--that is until she reaches middle age. So that's the first third of the book.And then she does attract the attentions of a man, but that is just a painfully awkward story that results in a painfully awkward situation. So that's the second third of the book.
And then she takes off on a ship for the other side of the world where she discovers. Well, I'm not sure exactly what she figured out there. And that was the last third of the book.
And then it was over and I said "what the heck was that all about?"
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LibraryThing member shelleyraec
I wrote a brief but scathing review of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love so when The Signature of All Things arrived unsolicited I wasn't enthusiastic. When it finally reached the top of my review stack, I was willing to attempt it but I was fully expecting I would put it aside after a few
Unfolding over a century from the late 1700's, The Signature of All Things is a fictional portrait of a remarkable woman and her extraordinary life. Alma Whittaker was born in 1800, the only surviving child of an austere Dutch mother and a father defined by his ambition and entrepreneurial talents. Blessed with rare intelligence, Henry and Beatrix 'encouraged a spirit of investigation in their daughter', and with the family seat of White Acre in Philadelphia offering endless opportunity for education, eventually developed a passion for the study of botany.
While The Signature of All Things follows Alma's path of scientific exploration and curiosity, leading to a specific interest in Bryology (mosses) it also examines themes of family, love, philosophy, faith and loss. Alma's life's journey is absorbing in both its ordinary and extraordinary unraveling. She is challenged by her parent's adoption of a sister, Prudence, a friendship with the mercurial Retta, dashed romantic dreams, and the deaths of her parents. She struggles to understand her emotional and sexual desires and to resolve her shortcomings, to find personal fulfillment and finally to define her worth to the world at large.
The writing of The Signature of All Things is lovely, with the tempo and elegance of the historical period. Gilbert's research is impressive, I don't have a green thumb at all but even so I was fascinated by the botanical information imparted during the story. My interest really only wavered during the time Alma spent in Tahiti, thankfully a brief interlude in what is otherwise a beautifully crafted novel.
Intriguing, thought provoking and moving, The Signature of All Things is a compelling novel of historical fiction. I recommend you forgive Gilbert the conceit of Eat, Pray, Love and pick this up.
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chapters. However, to my surprise, I found The Signature Of All Things fascinating reading and was reluctant to put it down.Unfolding over a century from the late 1700's, The Signature of All Things is a fictional portrait of a remarkable woman and her extraordinary life. Alma Whittaker was born in 1800, the only surviving child of an austere Dutch mother and a father defined by his ambition and entrepreneurial talents. Blessed with rare intelligence, Henry and Beatrix 'encouraged a spirit of investigation in their daughter', and with the family seat of White Acre in Philadelphia offering endless opportunity for education, eventually developed a passion for the study of botany.
While The Signature of All Things follows Alma's path of scientific exploration and curiosity, leading to a specific interest in Bryology (mosses) it also examines themes of family, love, philosophy, faith and loss. Alma's life's journey is absorbing in both its ordinary and extraordinary unraveling. She is challenged by her parent's adoption of a sister, Prudence, a friendship with the mercurial Retta, dashed romantic dreams, and the deaths of her parents. She struggles to understand her emotional and sexual desires and to resolve her shortcomings, to find personal fulfillment and finally to define her worth to the world at large.
The writing of The Signature of All Things is lovely, with the tempo and elegance of the historical period. Gilbert's research is impressive, I don't have a green thumb at all but even so I was fascinated by the botanical information imparted during the story. My interest really only wavered during the time Alma spent in Tahiti, thankfully a brief interlude in what is otherwise a beautifully crafted novel.
Intriguing, thought provoking and moving, The Signature of All Things is a compelling novel of historical fiction. I recommend you forgive Gilbert the conceit of Eat, Pray, Love and pick this up.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
Although I have not been a big fan of previous Elizabeth Gilbert books, this one changed my mind. Her gentle, well-researched, and charming story of Alma Whittaker gives us a clear and perceptive look into the Age of Enlightenment and its interest in botany and its attitudes toward women. Alma is
Alma's character is one that invites us to look at early 19th century women in a new light. There are also other women of note in the story: her mother Beatrix, who is portrayed as a strong women with many talents, well educated and speaking several languages, but who is still often subservient to her husband, and who does not show her daughter any warmth or what we think of as motherly nurturing. She is raising a future botanist, a successor to herself (as it turns out) and is determined not to allow any feminine "weaknesses" to emerge in her daughter. There is Alma's adopted sister Prudence, raised in the same mold as Alma, and also not receiving (or giving) any warmth or friendship towards her sister. In the background is her mother's maid, Hanneke, who is always there to provide what little warmth Alma can expect from life, w.hile still maintaining her mistress Beatrix' stiff upper lip.
Her father, Henry Wittaker, is self-made man who has emigrated to American in 1776 after sailing the world with Captain James Cook. Henry is a strong and central character throughout the story. In fact, Gilbert sees him as so significant that she devotes the first four chapters of the book to filling in his background and life motivations to show how they influenced his daughter's upbringing.
From the first though, the reader is drawn to Alma. She's not beautiful but she's brilliant, talented, stubborn, inquisitive, and determined to learn as much about the world of botany as she can. As she goes through life, she marries, separates from her husband, finds her true calling the in the world of mosses, cares for her widowed father, and finally, sails the world in search of her heart's dream. It's high drama, but every bit of it is believable. It's scientifically detailed, but it's gripping and easy to understand and enjoy. It's a romance, but it's certainly no bodice-ripper. It's historical fiction, and as such, it serves up a delicious slice of life during the age of high seas adventures, far-off lands, and life before the industrial revolution.
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well-educated and shows us the world of gardening, plants, art, publishing, and exotic flora world-wide.Alma's character is one that invites us to look at early 19th century women in a new light. There are also other women of note in the story: her mother Beatrix, who is portrayed as a strong women with many talents, well educated and speaking several languages, but who is still often subservient to her husband, and who does not show her daughter any warmth or what we think of as motherly nurturing. She is raising a future botanist, a successor to herself (as it turns out) and is determined not to allow any feminine "weaknesses" to emerge in her daughter. There is Alma's adopted sister Prudence, raised in the same mold as Alma, and also not receiving (or giving) any warmth or friendship towards her sister. In the background is her mother's maid, Hanneke, who is always there to provide what little warmth Alma can expect from life, w.hile still maintaining her mistress Beatrix' stiff upper lip.
Her father, Henry Wittaker, is self-made man who has emigrated to American in 1776 after sailing the world with Captain James Cook. Henry is a strong and central character throughout the story. In fact, Gilbert sees him as so significant that she devotes the first four chapters of the book to filling in his background and life motivations to show how they influenced his daughter's upbringing.
From the first though, the reader is drawn to Alma. She's not beautiful but she's brilliant, talented, stubborn, inquisitive, and determined to learn as much about the world of botany as she can. As she goes through life, she marries, separates from her husband, finds her true calling the in the world of mosses, cares for her widowed father, and finally, sails the world in search of her heart's dream. It's high drama, but every bit of it is believable. It's scientifically detailed, but it's gripping and easy to understand and enjoy. It's a romance, but it's certainly no bodice-ripper. It's historical fiction, and as such, it serves up a delicious slice of life during the age of high seas adventures, far-off lands, and life before the industrial revolution.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
This is the epic story of one woman's journey to find knowledge and understanding in her own life but also for the world we live in. The book is beautifully written with dozens of unique and interesting characters that she meets during the eighty plus years of her life. The book actually starts
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with her dad as a young boy as he moves from humble beginnings in England to become one of the wealthiest men in America by utilizing his knowledge of Botany to make vast profits. But, the book is much more than this. It covers the full range of human emotions from great joy to intense sorrow. However, what ties the book together is the heroine's quest for know;ledge and understanding . I recommend this book in particular to people that have an innate sense of curiosity for the wondrous world we live in. Show Less
LibraryThing member CLStern
A bit too flowery for me (both the prose and the content) but overall the story won out and I ended up enjoying this. Austen meets Kingsolver meets ...?
LibraryThing member bettewhitley
This sweeping story spans much of the 19th century glimpsed through the life of Alma Whittaker, a woman quite unlike many ot the women of her time. The unusually well educated daughter of a wealthy self-made man, Alma's insatiable curiosity and intellect far eclipse her physical appearance-too
The language and imagery make this book a real pleasure to read, and Alma's story is a wonderful ride. While this is not the right choice for a quick or casual read, I enjoyed every word and would recommend it without reservation.
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tall, too big, cursed with "unfortunate" hair - but they are the very qualities that make her one of the most memorable characters I have encountered recently.The language and imagery make this book a real pleasure to read, and Alma's story is a wonderful ride. While this is not the right choice for a quick or casual read, I enjoyed every word and would recommend it without reservation.
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LibraryThing member indygo88
Whether you liked or disliked Elizabeth Gilbert's previous books, you might have a hard time believing this is the same writer. The only similarity that immediately comes to mind is the varied geographical locations explored in each of her books.
This novel of historical fiction, well written and
This novel of historical fiction, well written and
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obviously well researched, reminded me a little bit of some of the works of Tracy Chevalier, whose novels I've also enjoyed. This is a somewhat slow-moving novel, not particularly action-packed, and it's long. I was never tempted to actually give up on this novel, but it did drag on a bit, and I found myself skimming certain paragraphs to speed things up a little. My book club enjoyed this and it led to a pretty good lengthy discussion. The overall content, a large portion devoted to the study of mosses, was not the most interesting in my opinion, but the fact that this was well researched balances out some of that. Had the subject matter been more stimulating to me and a little more fast-paced, I would've rated this higher. Show Less
LibraryThing member rglossne
An extraordinary novel featuring an extraordinary heroine. Alma Whittaker seeks to understand life in the largest sense through the study of botany, eventually becoming an expert on mosses. She has a more difficult job understanding human motivations, and her miscalculations and misunderstanding
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drives the plot, leading her to travel to Tahiti and the Netherlands. "'This life is a mystery, yes, and it is often a trial, but if one can find some facts within it, one should always do so-for knowledge is the most precious of all commodities.' Show Less
LibraryThing member techeditor
This may be the best fiction of 2013. I thought another book was the best fiction of the year, but THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS is right up there with it. I know a book is a winner when I hate to see it end. THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS is too good to end, so it passes that test.
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL
In an effort to avoid spoilers, description of the book stops there in this review. Most reviews say too much.
Too many books insult my intelligence. This one doesn't. That's the best kind of literature.
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL
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THINGS is usually described as a family saga. But it may be more fair to say that it begins with the story of Alma Whittaker's father in order for the reader to better understand Alma.The majority of the book is Alma, from her birth to her death. And what a life, especially after she is 50! So much fiction concentrates on characters who are in their 20s and 30s. What a pleasant change this is to see a woman accomplish so much post-50.In an effort to avoid spoilers, description of the book stops there in this review. Most reviews say too much.
Too many books insult my intelligence. This one doesn't. That's the best kind of literature.
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LibraryThing member albertgoldfain
A surprising page-turner about a life devoted to an obscure corner of science. Even though it is written in a Victorian style, Alma Whitaker comes across as an entirely believable character. Gilbert is able to sweep many years into single chapters that are completely free of dialogue and also to
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slow down to "moss time" to let the dramatic turning points of the novel unfold. Show Less
LibraryThing member SignoraEdie
If I could I would give this book 10 stars. It was one of the books that I did not want to see end and that held my attention throughout. Wonderfully written.
LibraryThing member nicx27
It's always difficult to review something that you know other people have loved when you yourself don't feel the same about it. Unlike most reviewers of this book, I did quite like Eat, Pray, Love by this author, but The Signature of All Things didn't really do a lot for me.
The problem for me was
The problem for me was
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that it was such a huge book which read more like a biography than a story. I expected to find the botany side of it quite interesting but I didn't and I just didn't feel engaged with the characters or the story. It was too dry and wordy for my liking. I think this book will appeal to people who like a sweeping epic of a book with lots of description but sadly wasn't the right choice for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member voracious
Alma Whitaker is a botanist and scientist set in a time period before women were respected as peers in science (1800's). Raised by her uneducated but rich entrepreneurial father, Henry, and his classically educated Dutch wife in the new world, Beatrix, Alma was raised to speak and read in many
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languages while learning about the wonders of the plants her father had imported from around the world, as part of his pharmaceutical business. Though her family adopted a young girl in sudden need, Prudence, as her new sister, Alma and her sister grew up relatively estranged and without a loving bond. As Alma matures, she is generally without companions, but seeks to make a career studying mosses and publishing extensively about them. After she invites a gifted artist, Ambrose, to dinner, her life takes a turn as she falls in love with a man she can never understand. This leads her to seek new answers and adventures far away from her home for the first time in her life, on a journey that takes her to Tahiti and ultimately to Amsterdam. This is a historical novel that spans two full generations and lives: Henry's and Alma's. I found the novel to be interesting but slow at times, as it was bogged down at times by philisophical discussion about the possibility of evolution. I generally enjoyed how the author rooted the story in a solid time period and made the character a strong woman, passionate about science and new ideas. Alma, however, was sometimes hard to relate to, as she was rather passive about changing her circumstances until fairly late in life. The settings of Tahiti and Amsterdam were interesting but disparate and unusual. It seemed a little farfetched that a woman who had never left her own city would suddenly launch herself on a journey to such exotic places without looking back. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the cultural aspects of the novel and the lush descriptions of the locations and people. It is a rich and descriptive historical novel that allows the reader to be transported to far flung places and time periods that might never have been experienced otherwise. Show Less
LibraryThing member drmaf
Wow! What an extraordinary, captivating, moving and thought-provoking piece of writing! Words really cannot describe this work, it must be read and savoured to be fully-appreciated. Suffice it to say it features one of the most entrancing heroines I have encountered in a lifetime of reading. If you
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are not moved beyond expression by Alma's story then you truly have a heart of stone. At once made of steel and at the same time extraordinarily vulnerable, she just grabs you and wont let go. The book itself is literally a roller-coaster of emotion, of discovery, of experience, you simply have to read it to see what I'm talking about. Beyond excellent, it borders on greatness. I can only give it 5 stars on the official rating, but here I'm giving it 20 stars. It may well be among the top 10 books I've read in my life. Show Less
LibraryThing member NellieMc
Wonderful book, with a unique and fascinating heroine. Great theme - the science revolutions of the 19th century, and great heroine - a female biologist with little sex appeal but a wonderful mind. Very well written. The only reason for the half star is that I found a section of the book - when she
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visits Tahiti looking to understand her late husband and understand why the marriage was never consummated - dragged a bit. It could have been shortened and the segment in Amsterdam expanded to the book's advantage. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cariola
Initially, I had no interest in reading this book, mainly because I couldn't get through Gilbert's last best seller, the super-sappy Eat, Pray, Love. But a colleague recommended it, so I decided to give it a try, and it ended up Kate Atkinson's Life After Life off my Top 5 Books of 2013.
The novel
If all this sounds dull, believe me, it isn't. Alma has quite a few adventures along the way, including an extended visit to a remote island in the South Seas. And Gilbert peppers the novel with wonderfully drawn characters: her practical but rigid Dutch mother and her business mogul father; Prudence, the beautiful adopted sister who struggles to catch up to Alma intellectually but remains emotionally distant; the painter of orchids who seems to be Alma's soulmate; the flighty new neighbor who insists on befriending the Whittaker sisters, bringing laughter into their house; Tomorrow Morning, a charismatic native evangelist; and many, many more. Add to this the fact that The Signature of All Things is an exquisitely written and finely researched book.
While I won't be going back to read Eat, Love, Pray, I will most certainly be looking for Gilbert's earlier works of fiction. Highly recommended.
The novel
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focuses on the life of Alma Whittaker, pampered daughter of a wealthy American botanical merchant, who has enough spare time on her hands to study a specialty of her own: mosses. The story covers more than 100 years, beginning with Alma's birth, backtracking to explain how her English father made his fortune and ended up in America, then moving through her charmed childhood, lonely young womanhood, a disappointing late marriage, a series of middle age adventures, and finally, into her last years. At its heart The Signature of All Things is Alma's gradual blossoming from a short-sighted, rather selfish person living in an insular world into a fully-developed member of the human community, one willing to care about others and take the time to understand their feelings, needs, and motives. Gilbert uses the world of plants--particularly mosses--as a metaphor for the human world: under the microscope, each moss colony is a world unto itself, yet each continually tests its boundaries, tentatively or aggressively reaching into other worlds.If all this sounds dull, believe me, it isn't. Alma has quite a few adventures along the way, including an extended visit to a remote island in the South Seas. And Gilbert peppers the novel with wonderfully drawn characters: her practical but rigid Dutch mother and her business mogul father; Prudence, the beautiful adopted sister who struggles to catch up to Alma intellectually but remains emotionally distant; the painter of orchids who seems to be Alma's soulmate; the flighty new neighbor who insists on befriending the Whittaker sisters, bringing laughter into their house; Tomorrow Morning, a charismatic native evangelist; and many, many more. Add to this the fact that The Signature of All Things is an exquisitely written and finely researched book.
While I won't be going back to read Eat, Love, Pray, I will most certainly be looking for Gilbert's earlier works of fiction. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
A very ambitious and expansive piece of historical fiction spanning continents and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The story of love, desire, and spirituality revolves around the area of botany and evolution. After reading Gilbert’s memoir and non-fiction piece, this work proves her
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talent and skills as a fiction writer. Show Less
LibraryThing member icolford
The jacket blurb describes The Signature of All Things as sweeping, and it is certainly that and much more. Elizabeth Gilbert’s story follows Alma Whittaker from her birth in 1800 into her old age. Alma is the daughter of Henry Whittaker, who from humble beginnings in 18th-century London builds a
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vast corporate empire stretching across several continents by importing and exporting exotic and rare flora. Henry is a pragmatist who has no use for superstition or religion and nothing but scorn for established and polite ways of conducting business. An expert amateur botanist, he has a scientist's fascination for living things and is knowledgeable of habitat and what it takes to make plants grow and thrive. However, coming from a hardscrabble upbringing and having endured for years the contempt of his “betters,” his primary interest is making money, and this is an activity at which he excels, ruthlessly and to the exclusion of almost everything else, and which he does so well that after settling in Philadelphia he becomes the wealthiest man in the New World. Alma, born into comfort and knowing nothing else, gains her maturity at the enlightened Whittaker estate, where curiosity and skepticism are encouraged, surrounded by the stimulating influence of the books her father has collected and the almost nightly company of intelligent dinner guests. Alma shares her father's fascination for the natural world, but with her keen intellect, the luxury of leisure time (if not the benefit of formal education), and a single-minded devotion to her quest for knowledge, she transforms her scientific inquisitiveness into scholarly ambition. Alma’s life unfolds against a backdrop of continuous scientific discovery, religious upheaval, and the occasional war, a time when ancient and sacred assumptions were being debunked on an almost daily basis. But apart from the historical details Gilbert devotes just as much if not more space to Alma’s personal discoveries, and this is what gives the novel its soul. In this engrossing story of an inquisitive and deeply intellectual woman alive at a time when women were expected to keep to the shadows and speak in undertones, we see Alma Whittaker at her best and also at her very worst. Alma is, above all else a seeker of answers who will let nothing interrupt her quest; she knows she can contribute to humanity’s storehouse of knowledge and is not about to let her gender hold her back. To be sure she makes bad decisions and repeatedly displays poor judgment (especially in matters of the heart), but this only makes her a more endearing character and her story all the more poignant. What greater compliment is there than to say that though this is a long book I didn’t want it to end? Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of all Things engages and fascinates on multiple levels. It is above all else a richly satisfying reading experience. Show Less
LibraryThing member jayde1599
Thoughts: Wow - it is an immense novel. And I don't just mean page length, the depth of content, amount of time that is covered in the book, and botanical research that is included, kept my brain working.
The book begins with Alma Whittaker's birth in the early 1800s. However, it covers Alma's
While I think that this was a great book, it could have been cut down a bit. The character of Alma Whittaker also bothered me, especially her relationship with Ambrose Pike and her adopted sister, Prudence. Despite some slow moving aspects of the plot, and a plethora of information thrown at the reader, this is an enjoyable book. It is a book that made me stew for awhile after, and because of that, I give it 4 stars.
I think Elizabeth Gilbert is a MUCH better fiction writer than memoir writer. I hated Eat, Pray, Love! I per chance saw this book new at the library and couldn't pass up a "never been read" book!
The book begins with Alma Whittaker's birth in the early 1800s. However, it covers Alma's
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father's unhappy childhood, his growth out of poverty, and move to Virginia. Next, the author goes into Alma's full life of intellectual studies and self discovery. The book spans the rest of the century, as well as travel to Tahiti and Holland. Interspersed throughout are botanical facts about flowers, import/export, and mosses.While I think that this was a great book, it could have been cut down a bit. The character of Alma Whittaker also bothered me, especially her relationship with Ambrose Pike and her adopted sister, Prudence. Despite some slow moving aspects of the plot, and a plethora of information thrown at the reader, this is an enjoyable book. It is a book that made me stew for awhile after, and because of that, I give it 4 stars.
I think Elizabeth Gilbert is a MUCH better fiction writer than memoir writer. I hated Eat, Pray, Love! I per chance saw this book new at the library and couldn't pass up a "never been read" book!
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
Alma Whittaker is born in 1800 in Philadelphia and into a privileged family. Her parenta nurture her love of science and she comes to recognize the scientific discoveries of the day independently and simultaneously with her more well-known male contemporaries.
Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2014)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2015)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2014)
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2014)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Fiction — 2014)
Wellcome Trust Book Prize (Shortlist — 2014)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2013)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2013)
The Observer Book of the Year (Fiction — 2013)
RUSA CODES Listen List (Selection — 2014)
Pages
512
ISBN
0670024856 / 9780670024858