The signature of all things [Paperback]
Gilbert, Elizabeth, 1969-2013
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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. 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.
Main title:
The signature of all things [Paperback] / Elizabeth Gilbert.
Author:
Gilbert, Elizabeth, 1969-, author
Imprint:
London : Bloomsbury, 2013.©2013.
Collation:
501 pages ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9781408850114 (paperback)
Dewey class:
813.6
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
218861
Electronic access:
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaumaris Library | Adult Fiction - General | GILB | - (Set: 28 Jan 2022)Onloan - Due: 12 May 2024 |
| Brighton Library | Adult Fiction - General | G | Onloan - Due: 03 May 2024 |