Born in 1800, young Alma develops a passion for plants and is happy until the arrival of a beautiful adopted sister makes her aware of her homeliness. The story centres on the life of Alma Whittaker, daughter of Henry Whittaker, an illiterate Englishman who makes a fortune importing botanical plants before settling with his Dutch wife in Philadelphia. But the book's own hard facts – plot and characterization – are contorted to support abstract themes. The idea that meaning is to be found in the material, rather than in the spiritual or intellectual realms, recurs throughout this richly textured historical saga. In Elizabeth Gilbert's new novel, The Signature of All Things, the botanist-heroine is initiated into an old belief that all natural objects are imprinted with messages from God the red markings on a particular plant, for example, signify its usefulness for blood ailments.
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