The Signature of All Things

Unlike anything else she has ever written ... Its prose has the elegant sheen of a 19th-century epic, but its concerns – the intersection of science and faith, the feminine struggle for fulfilment – are especially modern -- Steve Almond * International Herald Tribune *
The story of Alma Whittaker’s journey of discovery has irresistible momentum -- Helen Dunmore * The Times *
Ms Gilbert has established herself as a straight-up storyteller who dares us into adventures of worldly discovery, and this novel stands as a winning next act ... A bracing homage to the many natures of genius and the inevitable progress of ideas, in a world that reveals its best truths to the uncommonly patient minds -- Barbara Kingsolver * International Herald Tribune *
Charming and compelling ... A big novel in all senses – extensively researched, compellingly readable and with a powerful charm that will surely propel it towards the bestseller lists -- Jane Shilling * Daily Telegraph *
Gilbert has written the novel of a lifetime * O, The Oprah Magazine *
Sumptuous ... Gilbert's prose is by turns flinty, funny, and incandescent * New Yorker *
Quite simply one of the best novels I have read in years ... a bejewelled, dazzling novel -- Elizabeth Day * Observer *
Readers prepared to enter Gilbert Time will be rewarded: she is an unflaggingly curious writer, prone to delightful touches ... Gilbert's period interests seem boundless - she explores everything from self-sacrifice, to homosexuality, Darwinism and Victorian pornography ... This is a novel to be chewed over, slowly -- Lucy Atkins * Sunday Times *
A botanical odyssey through the nineteenth century, global in ambition, revelling in the period's insatiable curiosity about the world ... a tall tale, told with verve and wit * Guardian *
Filled with dazzling storytelling -- Susie Boyt * Financial Times *
Gilbert writes superbly well -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail *
An intricate, beautifully written historical novel ... A passionate paean to the 19th-century women of science who strove for achievement against the odds -- Anita Sethi * Metro *
Gilbert’s observations, of both characters and locations, make this an unexpected joy and in Alma she has created a truly unforgettable heroine -- Anita Chaudhuri * Irish Examiner *
Astute and funny ... comes with generous helpings of optimism and romance. Cynics need not apply * Irish Sunday Mirror *
Ambitious, boldly imagined and packed with authenticating detail, it engages very boldly with the interaction of art and science * Andrew Motion, Guardian *
Gilbert reminds readers she can do, and undo, narratives through impeccably observed and original stories * Independent *
Gilbert shows herself to be a writer at the height of her powers * O Magazine *
Magnificent ... I was just a few pages into the book when I felt myself relax, aware that I was in the safe hands of a master story-teller -- Anna Carey * The Irish Times *
My own 500-pager of choice? Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things ... just read it ... Hugely enjoyable -- Viv Groskop * Observer, Books of the Year *