Such a beautiful book in so many ways. As a plant lover & avid gardener (although not botanist!) I ate up every word about Henry Whittakers climb to the top of the plant collectors & medicinal plant world. If only we could have stayed immersed in his story a bit longer.
The generational branch to Alma was both intriguing and exasperating for me. She had a most unique childhood, raised from birth exposed to scientific minds from around the world and encouraged to nurture her own intelligence & curiosities, she was a rare female indeed and even more so for that time period. But then Ms Gilbert had to go and introduce Prudence into the story and it was like throwing a bucket of ice over me. She was, in fact, as cold as said ice, added zero to the story and what Alma did with Henry's bequest was a complete disrespect to her fathers legacy & to his wishes. I was fuming for him. She would have been better off establishing White Acre as a scientific retreat/school if she wanted to walk away from it. Would that I could, completely wipe any reference to Prudence off the pages...
I'm not even sure I enjoyed Almas time in Tahiti? All those pages, time and effort chasing after Ambrose and the subject of his drawings, denigrated the wonder of the rest of the book. I guess even smart girls are flawed? I kept waiting for her to at least visit Henry's vanilla plantation while she was there but she couldn't be bothered. Once she finally left the island & got herself back on track, the remainder of the book picked up. There really were so many marvelous ideas and theories touched upon in the book. Also famous figures in scientific history. I particularly liked the way Alma segregated time into three categories: Human, Divine & Moss.
Anyone with an interest in science, botany in particular, might find 'The Signature of All Things' a worthwhile read. I'm not sure how engaging it would be otherwise????
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