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)

Well written but sex pieces not necessary

Enthralling story and much scientific content. Be sexual content did not add anything. If actually took away from the story.

An intelligent, Homely, Sensuous Protagonist

Every book of Glibert's that I read, leads me to listening to her interviewed about it, and wishing to sit and talk with her. This book was calmly captivating, a gentle page-turner.

A interestingly unique story told with a soothing voice.

Loved this book. The story was unique and interesting subject with great relationship development. There was death and sadness that was
Told without actually making me feel sad. The voice worked really well the story and I found it soothing. I looked up more books by the author and more books read with this voice.

An amazing and most excellent book!

I was thoroughly engrossed in this book, marvelling at the story and the scientific research Elizabeth Gilbert accomplished!

Too long

I enjoyed the book because it was so well written. However, it dragged along some of the time. It was way too long for me. It was not one of those books that I could not wait to get back to. Not a lot of plot which is what I prefer.

Masterpiece

This book is enthralling. The amount of research she must have done for the book is mind blowing. The woman narrating is just splendid as well. Highly recommend!

Loved this book so much!!!

It will be hard to find another book that covers so many things that I find interesting!

Wonderful and wondrous

loved this story. The natural and scientific elements were a grounding influence. The characters are easily imagined and the whole book flowed beautifully. I didn't want it to end.

An Unexpected Delight

This is a wonderful well written story! I absolutely Love Elizabeth Gilbert's way with her words. I had a difficult time stopping myself from listening straight through!
This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

A marvelously thought provoking adventure

In TSoAT, Gilbert artfully slips a fictional existence and contribution into a most consequential phase of modern understanding. Her characters are very clearly formed in my mind and I am impressed by the arc of her contemplation on the meaning of human life. Stevenson’s narration and variety of voices have done justice to this exceptional work.