The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert's novel follows Alma Whittaker, the sharp, curious daughter of a self-made botanical fortune in early nineteenth-century Philadelphia. Drawn to science, Alma becomes an expert in mosses and devotes herself to careful study of the natural world, even as love, desire, and longing complicate her life. Her search eventually carries her from Philadelphia to Tahiti and beyond, and brings her near the great questions of evolution and meaning that defined her era. Spanning decades and continents, the book blends botany, history, and emotional depth in the story of a woman who lives by her intellect. It marked a turn toward historical fiction for Gilbert after her memoir Eat, Pray, Love.
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What you might want to know about The Signature of All Things
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A brilliant nineteenth-century woman botanist pursues science, desire, and meaning across a long and far-reaching life.
Alma Whittaker, a nineteenth-century botanist who studies mosses while grappling with love and questions of meaning.
No. It is a sweeping work of historical fiction, marking Gilbert's shift from memoir to the novel.
The Signature of All Things was written by Elizabeth Gilbert, published in 2001 by Viking.
The Signature of All Things is 501 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Signature of All Things takes most readers 8 to 11 hours to finish.
The Signature of All Things is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.