The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Signature of All Things is one of the best books I have read in a long time: a fine, entertaining, informative and, above all, enjoyable tale.  What we have here is a finely wrought simulacrum of the very best of 19th century story-telling (I'm thinking of Anthony Trollope) imbued with a 21st century sensibility.  A strange thing to do, but it works beautifully.  I loved Trollope's The Warden and Barchester Towers.  Gilbert's novel, then, is in very good company.

Alma Whittaker, born on 5 January 1800, begins her life at the very beginning of the 19th Century.  Her story will come to echo some of the events of a century that was marked by great industrial developments, scientific achievements and social progress.  Alma's tale is prefaced by an engaging account of the rise of her father from obscurity in England to becoming one of the wealthiest men in a newly independent United States of America.

So, Alma grows up rich, she inherits a fine, enquiring mind and a practical aptitude for learning from both her parents, but she is not bonny.  These three hallmarks will, of course, come to shape her life  - and in some most unexpected ways, too.  New and interesting characters come into Alma's life, and they bring with them the seeds of love, pain, loss and sacrifice.  I don't want to say anymore about character and plot in case I spoil the book for the reader.

It is remarkable how Gilbert seems to know so much about so many things of the period, and she has a knack for conveying this information effortlessly and without being overly didactic.  The narrative voice is perfectly at home in the period, so the mood created rings authentically rather than seeming to be the product of exacting 21st century research.

 Overall, a remarkable achievement and an enjoyable read.  Highly recommended.