2024 the best love novels of all time review

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A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, Big Magic, and City of Girls

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 eighteenth and nineteenth 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 readers.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books; First Edition (June 24, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143125842
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143125846
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.46 x 1.09 x 8.35 inches
Reviewer: switterbug/Betsey Van Horn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Enchanting and earthy
Review: From the opening pages, it is evident that Gilbert can write with lyricism, confidence, and substance. I was afraid that her mass popularity would lead to a dumbed down book with pandering social/political agendas or telegraphed notions. I am thrilled to conclude that this was not the case. Gilbert is a superb writer who allows her main characters to spring forth as organically as the natural world that they live in. This is a book of well-considered people of the times, who are emblematic of daring and discerning ideas, as well as an absorbing story that will keep the pages flying. The 18th and 19th century comes to life, and botany keeps the composite parts anchored to the earth. It is a both beautiful and intermittently appalling story of humanity and nature.The book begins with British ex-pat Henry Whittaker, a boy of humble origins, who, by the time he is an adult in the 19th century, turns himself into a captain of industry in the botanical and pharmaceutical industry, particularly quinine. As a boy, he pilfered from the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens and sold to others, and showed his mettle as an entrepreneur. The director, Sir Joseph Banks, eventually apprehended him. Whittaker's penance was to be sent on faraway travels, in order to prove himself worthy and edify himself in the realm of plants.When Whittaker returned, he made it his life's work to eclipse Banks and become a wealthy self-made industrialist of the natural world. He got himself an educated Dutch wife, left Europe for good, and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where he built an elaborate estate that truly did rival the Kew Gardens, called White Acre. All alike envied his ostentatious mansion on the hill, and were impressed by his breathtaking, unparalleled gardens. He sired one daughter, Alma, and adopted another, Prudence. Whittaker became one of the richest men in North America, or anywhere. But, more important than riches, to him, was the power to command others, and the talent and skill to master your work. Education was the tool to that end. Therefore, his children received a scholarly education at home.Henry's prominence on the pages segues into his daughter's, Alma. The beautiful Prudence becomes an outspoken abolitionist, while Alma grows into a scholarly, tall, large-boned, homely, and privately carnal woman who becomes the flourishing main character. I would list her as one of my favorite protagonists of contemporary times, as unforgettable as Teresita Urrea of THE HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER, although of polar sensibilities. Alma is so fleshed out that I can smell her, and every moment in her life is organically rendered. As she becomes her father's daughter as a scientist, (but with a gentler disposition), the reader is taken ever further into her inner and outer journeys. She is not just a botanist and taxonomist, but in many ways, a philosopher, a noble thinker, with a sexual and sensual hunger.Gilbert doesn't portray Alma as flawless or unbelievable. Rather, Alma is a construct of her environment and her gifted mind. She is also metaphorically imprisoned by the life of a proper woman in the 19th century. However...Alma's portrait is the fruit of this elegantly written, lyrically cadenced, engrossing tale. Gilbert braids in the enigma of life from botany to the human body, and folds in science, mysticism, spirituality, psycho-sexuality, all in a vibrantly flowing historical novel. Some of the characters make a brief or lucid appearance, and then fade, but Alma grows more luminous with each passing chapter. A few sections focus on scientific philosophies and the question of creationism and evolution (the way a discussion would happen in the 1800's), but it fits radiantly into this story. But, mostly, it is Alma who pollinates this ripe and exhilarating tale. I still see her bending over a leaf, or examining moss with a microscope, or hunched over her scholarly tomes and writing her books on the mysteries of plant life. Being at her father's beck and call, but carving out a solitary but teeming life.The title of the book refers that all life contains a divine code or print, and was put forth by a 16th century German cobbler and early botanist, Jacob Boehme, one rejected by the Whittakers, for the most part, as medieval nonsense. He had mystical visions about plants, and believed there was a divine code in "every flower, leaf, fruit, and tree on earth. All the natural world was a divine code."You can see it in a curling leaf, a nesting bird, and when the stamens of one plant stick it to its receptacle. Every unique living creature, according to Boehme, contains the eponymous title. Alma meets an orchid painter who embodies this belief, and who pulls her into the world of mysticism. As an explorer and thinker, she is compelled to understand this notion.Alma's professional and personal life leads her to contemplate the "struggle for existence." As the reader follows Alma on her odyssey of the natural world and beyond, the wonder of life becomes ever transcendent--that "those who survived the world shaped it--even as the world, simultaneously, shaped them."This exquisite novel feels like a gift to humanity. It has heart, soul, and earthiness. And Alma Whittaker.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This reads more like an intimate biography than a work of fiction
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I debated between a 4 and a 5 star rating. I am in the "hated Eat, Pray, Love camp" but loved this book. If one is looking for a plot driven novel this is not it. In fact, many maxims of good writing are violated. The main character does not have a singular goal whose journey is the novel. Ms. Gilbert often tells rather than shows, but tells so effectively with a laundry list to support her claim that you get the picture. She frequently says the same thing in three consecutive sentences, but in different ways. The effect is a wonderful hammering home of her point.It did take two chapters for me to get into the novel, and I was half way through before i really cared about Alma although I understood herearlier. Of course, much of the first half is about Alma's bulldozer father followed by Alma's childhood. Alma has a fine mind and so does the author. You appreciate Alma's love of botany, even her narrow specialty which is a tribute to all of the research which went into the novel. Alma deals with deep questions about the nature of life, her own place in the world, her sexuality, and her own nature. I liked the fact that Ms. Gilbert dared to make her heroine a large, unattractive woman.I found all of the characters vividly drawn and believable except for Prudence, and then only for a single act attributed to her late in the novel. Alma herself did not understand Prudence so it may be logical for the author to write so the reader has the same reaction. What I did not believe was Prudence's odd sacrifice and the housekeeper's keeping it from Alma until her father's death. The reader was given no hint the Prudence the housekeeper later describes. All of Prudence's actions and dialogue displayed only polite indifference to Alma.As a retired mathematician/academic I can attest that Ms. Gilbert accurately described the scientific publishing world. The question of how evolution accounts for altruism was a great, provoking question for Alma to grapple with. And yes, Alma made a mistake in not publishing her best work because she had not settled the question to her satisfaction.This is a book you can sink your teeth into.

Reviewer: Annie
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Honest, I knew E. Gilbert was a good writer, and that this book was a botanical delight, but I wasn't expecting to be seduced at the first page, and so far (hal-way through the book), I am more than delighted.It feels as if though one is reading a personal diary, and a botanist biography. It is an endearing description of a past era, past ways of relating to people, but with a very universal look on emotions, feelings, and the effect of it all on our journeys. Loving it.

Reviewer: Ruth
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Loved every minute! Chance, adversity and determination force plants and people to survive and maybe even flourish in perfect conditions, but to whose detriment? I re-read sentences to experience again their beautiful construction. I feel I have been on a journey across the whole world and been privileged to watch the books’ interesting and challenging characters develop. My own family were scientists and artists in the 1800s and I feel as though I’ve had a window on that age. Gilbert’s research is stunning, but so also is her ability to paint a picture so vividly that I too would often close my eyes to the beauty of it while reading. I love the way the author deals with the world’s exceptions with such poignancy and honesty on the parts of the characters involved. The great moment of catharsis is managed with aching sensitivity. Clever. Instructive. Powerful. Heart rending. Hopeful. Life affirming.

Reviewer: GRZEGORZ FRACZEK
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Gilbert the incredible storyteller strikes again!

Reviewer: Bellabooks
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My original hesitancy to read this book had been based on the author's previously written "self-help" book, since that type of genre does not appeal to me. However, The Signature of All Things is very readable and while fiction, is based on historical people and discoveries. A most pleasant surprise and I would recommend this book.

Reviewer: Antich
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A escritora teve a excelente ideia de trabalhar, além de vários romances simultâneos, o momento em que as luzes do Ocidente começaram a desvendar e estudar as descobertas que o ciclo das navegações trouxera. Muito além do milho e das batatas as descobertas sugeriram novas e mais provocativas considerações. Tudo com o uso de vocabulário denso e agradável. Lidas as primeiras 50 paginas, não há como interromper a leitura.