Elizabeth Gilbert is famous for her selfdiscovery memoir, Eat, Pray, Love – the international bestseller that became a travel phenomenon, a Hollywood movie and an inspiration to women the world over. But before she was a postergirl for finding yourself through travel, she was a muchpraised novelist and a National Book Award winner, with four books under her belt.

Her first novel in 13 years, The Signature of All Things – a wildly imaginative literary pageturner – has met with a rapturous critical reception.

In this conversation with Caroline Baum, Gilbert reveals the stories and influences behind the book’s scientific trailblazer Alma Whittaker – and her grappling with the ethical, social and sexual constraints of the era in which the story is set. Whittaker, we learn, is a character constructed of minutely considered decisions by the author.

Gilbert also shares how she achieved a fine balance between the historical and contemporary – and how she sets about voicing the narration in her work.