August book of the month: THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS. Come and chat to author Elizabeth Gilbert on Thursday 18 September, 9-10pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Oprah magazine called our August choice ‘the book of a lifetime’, and there is no doubt that The Signature of All Things is a big book.

It is epic in scope – an adventure through the nineteenth century that takes in botany, female emancipation, genius, Darwinism, war and empire – with a delight in the boundless beauty of the natural world.

Elizabeth Gilbert is an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and the author of the phenomenal bestseller Eat Pray Love, which was published in over thirty languages and sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Elizabeth will be joining us for a webchat to chat about this book and her other fiction and non-fiction in early September - date TBC.

We have 50 copies of The Signature of all Things to giveaway. Apply here for a a free copy. If you're one of the lucky 50 we will inform you next Tuesday (22nd July). If you don't access a free copy, order it up online to read over the summer to join us for bookclub in September.

This is most boring book I ever read. I have up half way through and wondered why I persevered so long.

zinher I have to admit I felt the same, but the second half I enjoyed far more than the first half. It has stayed with me since finishing it (but did take me a long time to get through)

Can't wait to chat with you all in a few hours...thank you for the interest in my book!

Firstly I really enjoyed the novel. The opening chapters about Henry Whittaker and his rise from a humble background set the scene for the unusual life Alma leads for a woman of her time.

My question is whether Elizabeth Gilbert originally set out to highlight the lesser known Alfred Wallace in this novel or whether her botanical research sparked this interest.

Hi Elizabeth!

You must have done an incredible amount of research into the history of the period, what with the developments in science, society, printing, botanical gardens, botany and all the different locations.
Was there a spark that got you interested in these things? Where did it all start for you? And how long did it take to write such an epic book?

@TillyBookClub

Just a quick hello to say looking forward to hearing what you all think of this, and do let us know when your free copies arrive so we can check they have gone out safely.

We are just finalising the date for the webchat and will post up here as soon as we have confirmation.

Looking forward to the chat! See you in an hour, everyone!

Half way through and only one word to say - Ambrose! X

I wondered were you ever tempted to give Alma a child, later in her life? I wonder what kind of a mother she would have made.

Half way through and only one word to say - Ambrose! X

I absolutely loved this novel! The gentle pace, the weaving together of Alma's story with the scientific discoveries and events of the 19th century, and above all the character of Alma herself - all brilliant.

I'd like to ask Elizabeth, apart from the well-known real-life characters such as Joseph Banks, Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, were any of the minor characters such as the van Devender family 'real' or inspired by real people? Were you tempted to put in an author's note at the end explaining which ones were drawn from real life?

I would love to know the idea behind picking up Alma at age 48? I have only just discovered about this web chat tonight so I'm afraid I'm only half way through! Loving this book and how you're writing style has flourished. I'm a huge EPL fan and also loved Last American Man but found Stern Men, well they say 'wear your research lightly' and in Stern Men I found it a little bit heavy but in SOAT the background is so beautifully integrated into the story. Congratulations on a wonderful book. ( so far!) ?? ??

I would love to know the idea behind picking up Alma at age 48? I have only just discovered about this web chat tonight so I'm afraid I'm only half way through! Loving this book and how you're writing style has flourished. I'm a huge EPL fan and also loved Last American Man but found Stern Men, well they say 'wear your research lightly' and in Stern Men I found it a little bit heavy but in SOAT the background is so beautifully integrated into the story. Congratulations on a wonderful book. ( so far!) ?? ??

There is so much knowledge and interesting detail from history in the book and the area of botany I don't often see in novels. I was wondering where the idea came from and just how much research you had to do? in my dream world I'm imagining you relaxed in a beach side hut in Tahiti for research purposes

As mentioned before, I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoyed the beginning, how we were introduced to Henry Whittaker, his life and character leading onto Alma. My question would be related to the research and thought process involved with creating the two strong female characters in the novel (Alma and her mother) along with the family dynamics of which I would imagine would gave been unusual during the period of which the novel was based (Beatrix taking such a lead in the interests and business of Henry, and also both Henry and Beatrix actively encouraging the learning and education for both of their daughters and holding their own in terms of conversations/ debates that women at the time generally might not have engaged in).

@BouncingJellyfish

Have just finishedmy very enjoyable and moving epic journey through Alma's life. Beautifully written. I will remember this book for a long time. I read the part where she goes out to look at mosses on boulder just before I visited a castle garden, and it inspired me to get up close to the mosses and lichens with my camera and imagine little worlds and forests on the rocks like Alma did. Do you have any background in botany or biology?

Thank you for this — it’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you became captivated with mosses because of the novel. I didn’t have a formal background in Botany, but I love gardening, and I love learning, and I put that together to learn what I needed. As for mosses…I chose them for Alma’s realm of study because needed to find something that Alma could explore without leaving home. Her world, for the first half of her life, is restricted to the estate where she lives with her father. She can’t go off in the jungles and find rare orchids; she doesn’t have that kind of freedom. And so I gave her a miniature world to study — something she could examine forever right outside her own home. Mosses are fascinating and diverse, so she could have found much to study within walking distance of her house. It is sort of a metaphor for women’s lives at that time, in many ways. They often became “masters of the miniature” — whether it was by doing detailed needlework, or painting tiny landscapes on teacups, or building immaculate universes within the small world of their families. When your life cannot be big, sometimes the best thing is to make it very, very, very tiny — and private, and special.

@MrsRedWhite214

My question is about Alma, did you find it hard to write about a strong female scientist in a time that was dominated by men and religion? Was it hard to keep things authentic? I found her very believable, I think she's one of my favourite characters for a very long time.

Thank you for this! I’ll tell you the truth…my first instinct with this novel was to write the story of a brilliant woman of ideas who could never make an impact on the world of science because she was a woman, and nobody would listen to her. But as I began to do research on 19th century female botanists, I discovered that many of them had been taken VERY seriously. They were published, they had plants named after them, they co-founded botanical gardens, they engaged in academic arguments with their male peers about taxonomy…in other words, they had voices and they had a certain amount of power. (Not a huge amount of power: They couldn't be president of a university, or the head of the Royal Society of Fellows. But they were far from invisible) To be sure, all those women had money and class on their side, but they still had some power. When I learned this, it changed the whole story. I made Alma stronger, and made the men in her life respect her more. I think it made for a more honest and complicated tale.

Hi Elizabeth

What a wonderful book. Firstly, it seems that you know a lot about botany. Where did this interest spring from? What drew you to moss in particular? I never would’ve have thought that moss could be so interesting!

Secondly, The character of Alma Whittaker seems so real, so authentic. Was she based on any particular female scientist(s) of the time?

Have not done webchat before so don't know protocol and so will limit myself to these questions for now!

Evening everyone

Many thanks to all above who posted messages and reviews - hope that you are able to be here tonight and looking forward to hearing from many more of you over the next hour.

I’m thrilled to introduce our guest tonight, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the spectacular THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS and the global bestseller EAT PRAY LOVE, amongst other books.

Elizabeth, thank you very, very much indeed for giving us your time tonight. And congratulations on such an epic yet intimate novel. We've already got a fair few questions to get through so I'll just add our standard Mumsnet ones and then off we go...???

What childhood book most inspired you?

What would be the first piece of advice you would give to anyone attempting to write fiction???

Over to you...

@AliJaneT

Half way through and only one word to say - Ambrose! X

AHHHH...Ambrose! :)

Oh I see you answered about mosses already! Sorry!

@Shaler

Hi Elizabeth

What a wonderful book. Firstly, it seems that you know a lot about botany. Where did this interest spring from? What drew you to moss in particular? I never would?ve have thought that moss could be so interesting!

Secondly, The character of Alma Whittaker seems so real, so authentic. Was she based on any particular female scientist(s) of the time?

Have not done webchat before so don't know protocol and so will limit myself to these questions for now!

Hi darling — so glad you liked it! For more on the moss question, check out the answer I just gave a few moments ago to the reader with the delightful name of BOUNCING JELLYFISH!

Elizabeth, it's great to hear from you. I would love to know what made you decide to mix fact with fiction? Was that always the plan or did that idea come later? I'm intrigued to know how such huge novels start from small ideas.