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Original Title:	The Signature of All Things
ISBN:	0670024856 (ISBN13: 9780670024858)
Edition Language:	English
Literary Awards:	Wellcome Book Prize Nominee for Shortlist (2014), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee for Longlist (2014), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2014), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2013)

The Signature of All Things

Elizabeth Gilbert

Hardcover | Pages: 501 pages

Rating: 3.84 | 88532 Users | 11139 Reviews

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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 wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.

Describe About Books The Signature of All Things

Title	:	The Signature of All Things
Author	:	Elizabeth Gilbert
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 501 pages
Published	:	October 1st 2013 by Riverhead Books
Categories	:	Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Audiobook

Rating About Books The Signature of All Things

Ratings: 3.84 From 88532 Users | 11139 Reviews

Judgment About Books The Signature of All Things

Alma Whitaker was born in the first sentence of the book. Genetically she was predestined for her life, like we all are. But her life would be different, as in totally different than the norm, made possible by the two determined people who would structure her intellectual, social, emotional and historical journey through life, particularly the Golden Age of 19th Century Botanical Exploration. It was the period in history which ensured unimaginable wealth to the patrons of plants and medicines.

I lovedlovedloved this historical novel about a woman's life in nineteenth century Philadelphia. I knew I was going to like this book by its very first page, which begins thusly:Alma Whittaker, born with the century, slid into our world on the fifth of January, 1800. Swiftly nearly immediately opinions began to form around her.Alma's mother, upon viewing the infant for the first time, felt quite satisfied with the outcome. Beatrix Whittaker had suffered poor luck thus far generating an heir.

So many thoughts, so little time - so....Elizabeth Gilbert, author of that turnip of a book Eat, Pray, Love, has written an absolute peach of a big, sprawling novel in The Signature of All Things. Luscious, ambitious, lyrical, satisfying; nothing in this novel will fail to keep you spellbound. I could wax lyrically all day about this book. Thank-you to Sally Howes for recommending this to me. Most Highly Recommended. 5★

Loved it- that girl can write her way out of a paperbag and as someone who loves plants and flowers-- well-- its my kinda book

Simply fantastic!!!! My God... Why had I waited so long to read this?Geeee...I was hooked with the Prologue! Fascinating reading. There is so much to comment on...What first? The story itself...(19th Century): The life of Alma Whittaker?? Her talents? Intelligence? Her educational growth? Personal growth? Her passion for Botany?Or...Do I share about the rich, amusing and stimulating other characters ...including Alma's friends and adopted sister?Or do I share about the extraordinary-

Ambitious is the first word I think of with this novel. There were many times during my reading when I felt Gilbert nailed the intersection for which she was aiming: tension between science and the divine; strong heroine journey; historical development of science in the 1800s-- particularly women in botany; love triangles; father/mother/sister complexes; writing style born of Dickens-Austen-Alcott; and, a plethora of travel and transformation metaphors (Gilbert's evolution from "Eat, Pray, Love"

Henry Whittaker was a self made man, a man who exacted a great deal of thought from those around him, quick of mind and eager to seize any money making enterprise centering on botany and the medicinal uses of said plants. His only daughter is Alma, equipped with an exacting nature and brilliant mind herself, she finds a virtual playground of plant and animal life on the family estate in which to learn and thus becomes a scientist in her own measure.This story is Alma's, although their are other