The Signature of All Things

I was scornful about Elizabeth's Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" with its indulgent psychobabble although I really liked an earlier book, "The Last American Man". She's a really good writer and in this novel she seems at first reading anyway to be going against the idea that there's anything particularly mystical in the world. It's a novel about nature and evolution and searching for meaning and understanding. The main character is a 19th century self-taught botanist Alma Whittaker, a lonely, plain-looking woman who finds purpose in a meticulous study of mosses. Don't worry, it's got some really exciting bits too.

From beginning to end the reader follows her physical, mental, spiritual and emotional development. Poor Alma tries so hard to understand the world. I particularly like this quote from near the end:

"Alma's stubborn, relentless, internal-speculation engine began to spin once more. This sensation angered her further. She was so weary of speculation. She could not bear anymore to invent new theories. All her life, she felt, she had lived in a state of speculation. All she had ever wanted was to know things, yet still and now - even after all these years of tireless questioning - all she did was ponder and wonder and guess."