The Signature of All Things: An Interesting Start Leading to Disappointment.

Posted On August 20, 2022

Hi Readers! I recently read The Signature of All Things. I finally picked it up because I wanted to read a big book. This one’s cover is just so beautiful, that I may have preferred to read it because of that sole reason. I read this 500-page historical fiction novel set in 1800s in three days, over the long weekend. I had my moments with it. At times I had more love for it than I could portray. At other times, I had such strong hatred for it than I couldn’t take into action. But with all its hits and misses, it gave me a rollercoaster of a reading experience.

Pretty much like Gilbert’s ‘City of Girls’, I enjoyed this book initially & not so much towards the end of it. Makes me think about the author’s writing process.

I have not reviewed this book the way I usually do. I made a lot of notes because of the length of the book & also because I tend to forget the entire story as soon as I finish it. So, this review is in five parts where each signifies the five parts in the novel. It does contain spoilers. So, proceed with caution.

~~PART ONE~~

This 500-page book is divided into 5 five parts. When I started this book, the first part was all about Henry Whitaker, who is our protagonist Alma Whitaker’s father. This part, though only of 46 pages, was what hooked me to the book. And, also, though it sounds unfair, it might be my favourite part of the entire novel. An ambitious rags to riches story with so much adventure & character development, all in 46 pages was a marvel to behold. This part raised my expectations very high. It made me want to read the book every time I wasn’t reading it. I was super curious.

~~PART TWO~~

Then came Part Two where we see Alma’s birth till she reaches the age of 21. Another part of the book which was very solid. Excellent story writing which made me intrigued about the lives of all the characters; Alma, Prudence, Beatrix, Henry, Retta Snow & George Hawkes. The timing of introducing Retta was perfect. Up until then, we saw how rigorous an upbringing the sisters had. And then came Retta; full of life, eccentricities & so much colour to what I did not realise were earlier a slightly gray & dull lives of Alma & Prudence. This part also ended on a high with Alma finding out which area of science she wanted to dedicate her life to – Mosses! My rating for the book was 5/5 stars until this time, which was 163/500 pages.

~~PART THREE~~

Part Three was after a significant needless time jump, after which the book went downhill for me. My favourite characters were either dead or insane or absolutely boring. From the introduction of Ambrose Pike, the book took a different turn altogether. Earlier it was all science which though wasn’t going anywhere, kept me hooked to the possibility of it leading somewhere interesting. Instead, it lead to Ambrose & divinity rather than going deeper into science & discovery. There is a conversation between Alma & Hanneke de Groot, where the latter one says about Ambrose, “He was nonsense.” No other sentence was more true than that one. Because, truly AMBROSE WAS NONSENSE! He ruined the book for me. Unluckily the third part which I liked the least, was also the longest, so the suffering was much more.

~~PART FOUR~~

Even with Ambrose gone, Part Four still possessed him quite a lot. Alma’s introduction to masturbation in Part Two was readable because she was oppressed at the time. She did not have any idea about it, so it was something new which was introduced at the correct time. But, the scene between Alma and Tomorrow Morning in the cave was abhorrent. They both wanted a physical relationship with Ambrose. Both of them had similar feelings for him. But, there were so many ways of writing this three-way connection between two living people. Instead, what we essentially got was Alma giving Tomorrow Morning a blowjob.

The entire setting, back story & character arc felt tainted because of this. It made Alma’s life cheaper & to me it also made the level of the writing cheaper. A woman who accomplished so much in the field of science, yet the moment she feels ALIVE & COMPLETE is when she touches a penis. I mean, seriously? Why make female masturbation & sexual desire so prominent & all-absorbing in a story that should have been about a woman in science in the 1850s? Yes, I am a feminist, and I stand by women living their lives the way they want to. But, when it’s a novel, it has to make sense in relation with the context. Destroying a solid 250-300 pages portraying a woman’s brilliance only to sex? Count me out.

~~PART FIVE~~

Lastly, Part Five finally made somewhat of a recovery back into science & academics & Alma’s big thesis. This part was well written, but since Alma is essentially an old lady by this point, there isn’t much going on. Nevertheless, given the kind of reading experience I had with this book, the ending was good enough.

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~

Talking of Elizabeth Gilbert, this book is nothing like ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. So if you want to read this because it’s written by the same author, please do not read it. You need to read the blurb & read the book only if it feels like it’s your kind of book. If you enjoy historical & literary fiction, then you should read this book. If you want to read something different & out of the ordinary, then you should read this book. If you are cautious about investing your time in a big book, then you should skip this one. If you want to read the book because of its glorious cover, then definitely skip this book because the cover is definitely better than what’s inside.

I have rated The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert at 3.5/5 stars.

Until next time,