This week's anticipated book:
Publisher: Viking Adult
Publication date: October 1, 2013
From barnesandnoble.com: A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling 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 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.
My Thoughts: I found out nearly a year ago that Elizabeth Gilbert was writing this novel, and have been counting down the days to its publication. Although Gilbert is probably best known for her hugely popular memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, she is an accomplished author of fiction and nonfiction alike. As I wrote in a post about Elizabeth Gilbert last year, she is a keen observer of life and culture whose intelligence and inquisitiveness come across on the page. In this novel, she turns her attention to the past, using her considerable talent to craft a family story set against the backdrop of historical eras and distant places. Based on the description, it's bound to be one of those books that you curl up with and finish in one or two sessions.
Enjoy life with books . . .
Catherine
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Waiting on Wednesday: New Elizabeth Gilbert Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.
Waiting on Wednesday: New Elizabeth Gilbert Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.
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