The Signature of All Things

 

    I'm not going to say very much about the plot of Elizabeth Gilbert's wonderfully engaging historical novel The Signature of All Things because to do so would be to spoil its leisured unfolding, but I will say that in Alma Whittaker it has one of the most unlikely and unusual heroines of this or any other genre!

    Alma is born in Philadelphia in 1800, the daughter of a renowned botanical explorer who has become a very wealthy man. Growing up on the family's White Acre estate, her privileged existence is also one of scholarship, for Alma is a cerebral girl for whom the life of the mind - in part compensating for a lack of emotional sustenance - is everything. She becomes a scientist, a natural philosopher, happy peering into a microscope or devouring the new thought contained in the books of her father's unique library, and when her interest in botany develops into a study of the little known field of mosses, a whole new world opens up to her.

    I'll say no more than that about Alma's life story except that it takes the reader far and wide, through almost a century and across the globe, into the questions of evolutionary theory and life itself, and down deep into what lies beneath our feet; and its portrayal of an intellect and an obsession, of human strengths and frailties, is infused with such joie de vivre that you will turn the final page with a satisfied smile. Full of warmth and wit, researched with such breadth and depth of understanding and attention to detail, this is quite a book!

    Here's Elizabeth herself to tell you more:

Comments

[JoAnn @ Lakeside Musing]

I listened to almost 5 CDs of the audio version in the car today, and wish I had that much driving time again tomorrow. Since that will not be the case, I may need to download it to my kindle… it's wonderful so far!

[Mrs. Pom]

I am saving it for Christmas vaca. Along with the 5th addition in the Cazalet Chronicles. I'm going to have to read quickly to finish both in 4 days!

[Cornflower]

It's a great read, and I applaud EG for the depth of her research and for the way she has incorporated that wealth of material in the narrative.

[Cornflower]

That's a lot of reading, but also a lot to look forward to!

[Caroline]

I can't wait to read it! Thank you for such a great post (as ever)!

[Cornflower]

Pleasure!

[litlove]

I enjoyed it very much too! I though Alma was a wonderful heroine, not a strong woman for the sake of appeasing modern gender ideology, but a woman whose exceptional situation made her strong, and then forced her to realise how strong she was.

[Cornflower]

Yes!
I loved all the botany, too, and it was a stroke of brilliance to put Alma in that family/world - it made for such richness.