Two spectacular reads in a row! What can I read next that will even come close to this book and the one I finished last week, "The Goldfinch!" They are very different books, but both captivated me!
This novel follows the fortunes an extraordinary woman, Alma Whittaker, daughter to the enterprising Henry Whittaker, who is a poor-born Englishman who eventually becomes the richest man in Philadelphia. The family's involvement in botany and what we know today as herbal medicine, brings them their wealth. The story deals with botany, spiritualism, illustration, and sexual desire. Alma is an amazing character - one the reader will not forget!
From the Westchester Library System review:
Alma has the benefit of wealth and books, spending hours learning Latin and Greek and studying the natural world. But her plain appearance and erudition seem to foretell a lonely life until she meets gifted artist Ambrose Pike. Their intense intellectual connection results in marriage, but Ambrose's deep but unorthodox spiritual beliefs prevent them from truly connecting. Alma, who has never traveled out of Philadelphia, embarks on an odyssey that takes her from Tahiti to Holland, during which she learns much about the ways of the world and her own complicated nature. Gilbert, in supreme command of her material, effortlessly invokes the questing spirit of the nineteenth century, when amateur explorers, naturalists, and enthusiasts were making major contributions to progress. Beautifully written and imbued with a reverence for science and for learning, this is a must-read.
