The Signature of All Things
written by Elizabeth Gilbert
A curious mind is the best gift of all and by that logic, Alma Whittaker was one of the lucky ones. As her life came to a close she was able to state whole-heartedly, "I think I have been the most fortunate women who ever lived." (Gilbert 496). However, on the surface an argument could be made that Alma's life was difficult, lonely and possibly left unfulfilled. Those who would reach that conclusion do not yet know Alma as I do, for I have traversed five-hundred pages with the her. I know her and her history fluently. Now I will share her story with you.
Alma Whittaker was born on January 5th,1800. Even at her birth she had expectations waiting to be filled. She would be raised as a scholar and her education would be strenuous. Her father, a master of botany, is the opening act in the book having his history fully explained before Alma takes the center stage. His transformative "rags to riches" passage explains the pressure placed on Alma to use the resources and advantages that he had provided her. For multiple years, as an only child, she was educated by conversing with her father's ingenious guests, and private teachings from her mother. Her life, as chronicled in The Signature of All Things, might have been a simple existence if not for the very nature of life itself; to throw wrenches in the machinery.
Alma will encounter many wrenches. There will be her adopted sister Prudence, a reserved orphan whose beauty eclipses Alma's homely and mannish features. There will also be Ambrose, a man whose whimsy and faith will draw Alma away from her studies and toward a promise of a lengthy companionship filled with friendship and intimacy. Then there will be Alma's own internal struggle to understand the world and her significance with in it. This book is separated into five parts, the five chapters in Alma's life. Each will bring a new element that will disrupt any contentment and peace she might have achieved, for better or worse, whose to say? Alma's life will take her many places and take many things away from her, but through all her grief and unsteadiness she will be fortunate in the most important way.
Though this story is fictitious, it resembles a non-fiction in its precise emulation life's reality. Alma faces both joy and sorrow in each part of the five segments that creates this book. It is important to note that this book is not so much a story, but life and that life is not a straight forward story. Life exists of twists and turns and Alma life is no exception.
