The Signature of All Things

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the number-one New York Times best-selling 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 18th and 19th 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 listeners.

©2013 Elizabeth Gilbert (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Gilbert's triumphant return to fiction is matched by Juliet Stevenson's lyrical reading. Both author and narrator capture the listener from the novel's opening words.” (AudioFile)

"A rip-roaring tale...unlike anything Gilbert has ever written.... Its prose has the elegant sheen of a nineteenth-century epic, but its concerns...are essentially modern." (The New York Times Magazine)

"With this novel about a young, nineteenth-century Philadelphia woman who becomes a world-renowned botanist, Gilbert shows herself to be a writer at the height of her powers." (O, The Oprah Magazine, "Our Favorite Reads of the Year")

"The most ambitious and purely imaginative work in Gilbert’s 20-year career: a deeply researched and vividly rendered historical novel about a 19th century female botanist.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Beautiful, powerful and heartbreaking.

Alma is a heroine to remember. I loved her, the story and the brilliant performance by Juliet Stevenson. It is a remarkable book. I was NEVER bored for a second and did not want it to end. I knew I would miss the characters, the unique story and the unusual journey Alma takes both literally and figuratively . I literally wept at the end, not just because I was so moved by Alma and her courage and vision, but because I knew how much I would miss the world I got to inhabit in this remarkable and unusual book.
And the writing is exquisite. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Crazy good narration

The story is epic and sweeping. Beautifully detailed and niche. Some amazing lines. I didn’t want it to end. One of my favorite books I’ve ever listened to.

Powerful, beautiful & exquisite.

Tremendously splendid & enjoyable listen.
Extraordinary writing, story telling, characters, interplays of perspectives, cultures, science & spirituality. Performance was fantastic.
Treasure in my heart. Thank you.
Gilbert is a classic of Tolstoy & Dostoevsky quality, yet better because she is a contemporary & a woman.

What a wonderful book!

It’s the first novel of Gilbert’s I’ve read and I’m so pleased I did. I absolutely loved the story and the prose - and Juliet Stevenson is a delight as always.

This is by far Elizabeth Gilbert's best book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and the references to spirituality, which I expected to find in the author's books. This was a masterpiece!

Overly sentimental

Some good character development and complex story telling. However, some unbelievable characters drag it down into pop culture sentiment.

The best! Loved it. Deep and intimate.

I would tell mature women they are in for a true venture. For some a deep learning curve. It’s full of wisdom, not necessarily the kind you might expect. Loved it!

Wonderful

So enjoyed this book with the wonderful story, writing and narration.
One learns many things reading!

3.5

I feel that it is better than a three but not as good as a four star book.

An epic tale of historical fiction

Elizabeth Gilbert blew me away with the breadth and richness of this epic tale. I found all characters to be fascinating and complex and Juliet Stevenson is absolutely brilliant in her narration. I could have listened for 20 more hours!