Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: New Elizabeth Gilbert Novel

 
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.


 This week's anticipated book:
 The Signature of All Things  
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
---------------------
If you are already a GFC follower, or if you are a new follower, please sign up to follow the Book Club Librarian Blog via Bloglovin'.  Let me know if you're a follower and leave me a link to your blog so that I can follow you back.  Thanks!
---------------------
 
Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Waiting on Wednesday: New Elizabeth Gilbert Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  

No comments:

Post a Comment