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)

Fascinated!!!

I truly enjoyed this book. The development of the characters were not predictable which made me anxious to come back to read more……I am fascinated by Alma; one who was not afraid to face herself with all of her flaws and goodness.

Magnificent

The brilliant Liz Gilbert and impeccable Juliet Stevenson at their finest. A deeply engaging prism of life.

Magical

What a gift to wander through this narrative that asked me so many questions and then let me answer them myself.

Well Researched…

Strange rollercoaster of a book with unpredictable plot. Well researched with all of the Natural History / plants / moss information as well as events true to that time period.
I feel like making this book even 25-30% shorter would have made it more captivating. The conversations between characters seemed mostly unnecessary and to drone on.
Perhaps this is a work of sheer genius but that went right over my head, I guess…?

Elizabeth Gilbert at her best.

Delightful story if a woman living and thriving in the 1800’s across continents and civilizations. Narrator was perfect!!!

An elegant lyrical story

A fantastic narrator, deeply human characters, arresting prose. The first fiction book I've read by Elizabeth Gilbert and it won't be my last.

Should be a movie.

I so enjoyed this sweeping saga with unexpected twists and turns. I wish I knew how to search for just this type of story. Thoroughly enjoyed!

What a saga through time, people & places

We loved how the story covered two generations of very different people in very different parts of the world.
The level of detail relating to botany was exceptional without being laborious.
The author was able to give us such descriptions of surroundings that we were transported there and could see what the characters saw.

Fabuloso

This was an exceptionally well written book and a wonderful use of the English language

Great writing, loved characters, plot fell apart

Where does The Signature of All Things rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best written for sure. Her writing is glorious. The evocation of the time and the botanical research was fascinating. I enjoyed it tremendously. Alma was a fascinating character and I loved all the details about botany about which I know nothing.

What could Elizabeth Gilbert have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Tightened the plotting. It really falls apart after the death of Henry Whittaker when Alma leaves for Tahiti to discover the "truth" about Ambrose. I really had no idea why she went, why she needed to find out what happened to Ambrose, and when she got there and found out the "truth" it was still unclear what the hell really happened to him and why. It was very murky and inadequately explained. The plot had gaping holes. Also, the ending was contrived.

I did love all the details about life in Tahiti at that time and Roger the dog was the most charming character in that part of the book.

What about Juliet Stevenson’s performance did you like?

Her reading was delightful and dramatic and brought the book to life. Her English and Dutch accents were charming. However her American accent was jarring. She couldn't get the American "r" right. I kept wishing she would have just given the American characters British accents and stopped making them sound like they'd taken bad elocution lessons.

Any additional comments?

I found Gilbert's portrayal of Alma's sexual attractiveness almost anti-feminist. Gilbert seemed to "buy" the explanation that because Alma was big and homely no man would want her even though her mother was big and homely and attracted her father who was no slouch (which she actually indicated she knew) So why was Alma, despite her simmering sexuality, not of sexual interest to any man. Chances are she would have had lots of suitors, she was going to be one of the richest heiresses in Philadelphia after all. I felt that Gilbert herself couldn't see men being attracted to someone who looked like Alma.

Gilbert didn't seem to really "get" the sexual magnetism of Ambrose. From "Eat,Pray, Love" I gather that wispy-type men don't appeal to her so she really didn't understand why others were obsessed with him.