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Published Oct 2013
512 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
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 wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.
"Starred Review. [T]here is much pleasure in this unhurried, sympathetic, intelligent novel by an author confident in her material and her form." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. A brilliant exercise of intellect and imagination." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Gilbert, in supreme command of her material, effortlessly invokes the questing spirit of the nineteenth century, when amateur explorers, naturalists, and enthusiasts were making major contributions to progress. Beautifully written and imbued with a reverence for science and for learning, this is a must-read." - Booklist
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Elizabeth Gilbert was born in 1969 in Connecticut. She grew up on a
small family tree farm, with her sister, novelist and historian Catharine
Gilbert Murdock (author of Dairy Queen, the first in a series for teens).
She attended New York University and graduated in 1991 with a BA in Political
Science.
In addition to writing books, she has worked steadily as a journalist.
Throughout much of the 1990’s she was on staff at SPIN Magazine, where she
chronicled diverse individuals and subcultures, covering everything from rodeo's
Buckle Bunnies (reprinted in The KGB Bar Reader) to China’s headlong
construction of the Three Gorges Dam. In 1999, Elizabeth began working for GQ
magazine, where her profiles of extraordinary men – from singers ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Elizabeth Gilbert's Website
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