Description
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert is a sweeping historical novel spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It follows the Whittaker family, beginning with Henry Whittaker, an ambitious Englishman who builds a fortune through the South American quinine trade, and his daughter Alma, who inherits both his wealth and his intellectual curiosity.
As a gifted botanist, Alma devotes herself to understanding the natural world and the emerging ideas surrounding evolution. Her scientific outlook is challenged when she falls in love with Ambrose Pike, an artist whose fascination with orchids leads him towards spirituality and the mystical. Their relationship becomes part of a wider story about science, faith, discovery, ambition and the changing ideas of the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
Spanning London, Peru, Philadelphia, Tahiti and Amsterdam, the novel combines family history, romance, science and adventure against a richly researched historical backdrop. It was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Readers’ Favorite Historical Fiction in 2013.
A good choice for readers who enjoy sweeping historical fiction, family sagas, historical romance and novels exploring science, religion, discovery and social change.
