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aactw's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
elizabethkg's review
1.0
It was so long. Too long. The Prologue was 20 pages of backstory that I wasn’t sure I needed. I lost interest quickly.
kdurham2's review against another edition
3.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Jennifer Chiaverini is known in the historical fiction world. For me she has written some really great books that have a foot in historical fact, but have a bit of fiction added to make it a good story!
This one had a bumpy start for me. With the prologue being quite lengthy and concerning how Lord and Lady Byron met and "fell in love" and how Ada was conceived, I from the start HATED Lord Byron and was nervous that I would not enjoy this one. As soon as Ada is given the reigns of the story and narrates her own childhood I was ready for a good book.
Jennifer Chiaverini is known in the historical fiction world. For me she has written some really great books that have a foot in historical fact, but have a bit of fiction added to make it a good story!
This one had a bumpy start for me. With the prologue being quite lengthy and concerning how Lord and Lady Byron met and "fell in love" and how Ada was conceived, I from the start HATED Lord Byron and was nervous that I would not enjoy this one. As soon as Ada is given the reigns of the story and narrates her own childhood I was ready for a good book.
jennbell19's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting person, but the book was very wordy and I think the plot got lost in the details.
allisongm's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
knlinwi's review against another edition
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
gilmoreguide's review against another edition
4.0
(3.5)
What kind of child might you get is you matched a world-famous poet known for his outrageous lifestyle and a genteel woman with a penchant for knowledge and restraint? If it was the early 1800s in England then you’d get Augusta Ada Byron, the only legitimate heir of Lord George Gordon Byron. Enchantress of Numbers is Jennifer Chiavarini’s new novel about Ada’s life—a life that is as fascinating in its own way as her father’s was tempestuous.
By the time Ada was born, the marriage of Lady and Lord Byron was already dying. Byron was famous for his mercurial temperament and his wife had hoped marriage would give him much needed stability. Instead, she learned of parts of his past that made her question his sanity so she took their baby daughter and moved back to her parents’ estate. Given that this was the early 1800s divorces were virtually unheard of, so they were separated, but Annabella was determined to keep Byron out of Ada’s life. Moreover, she worried Ada could have inherited his bad blood; she believed that for her daughter
Her salvation depends upon developing her moral and intellectual powers and suppressing everything of the imagination.
To this end, not only did she never see her father in her lifetime, but also, she was allowed no fairytales at bedtime, no imaginary friends, none of the normal inclinations of childhood. At the same time, her mother’s fears were so great that Byron would try and steal Ada that guards patrolled the estate. The result was a lonely, isolated childhood because, for all her concerns about her daughter, Ada’s mother was even more concerned with herself and her impossible-to-diagnose illnesses that kept her traveling to spas around the world for months on end. Her neuroses extended to firing any nanny or governess if Ada appeared to love them more than she loved her absent mother.
The rest of this review is at The Gilmore Guide to Books: https://wp.me/p2B7gG-2ys
What kind of child might you get is you matched a world-famous poet known for his outrageous lifestyle and a genteel woman with a penchant for knowledge and restraint? If it was the early 1800s in England then you’d get Augusta Ada Byron, the only legitimate heir of Lord George Gordon Byron. Enchantress of Numbers is Jennifer Chiavarini’s new novel about Ada’s life—a life that is as fascinating in its own way as her father’s was tempestuous.
By the time Ada was born, the marriage of Lady and Lord Byron was already dying. Byron was famous for his mercurial temperament and his wife had hoped marriage would give him much needed stability. Instead, she learned of parts of his past that made her question his sanity so she took their baby daughter and moved back to her parents’ estate. Given that this was the early 1800s divorces were virtually unheard of, so they were separated, but Annabella was determined to keep Byron out of Ada’s life. Moreover, she worried Ada could have inherited his bad blood; she believed that for her daughter
Her salvation depends upon developing her moral and intellectual powers and suppressing everything of the imagination.
To this end, not only did she never see her father in her lifetime, but also, she was allowed no fairytales at bedtime, no imaginary friends, none of the normal inclinations of childhood. At the same time, her mother’s fears were so great that Byron would try and steal Ada that guards patrolled the estate. The result was a lonely, isolated childhood because, for all her concerns about her daughter, Ada’s mother was even more concerned with herself and her impossible-to-diagnose illnesses that kept her traveling to spas around the world for months on end. Her neuroses extended to firing any nanny or governess if Ada appeared to love them more than she loved her absent mother.
The rest of this review is at The Gilmore Guide to Books: https://wp.me/p2B7gG-2ys
msnyderk's review against another edition
4.0
Finally picked this book up again to finish it! I had put it down to do some Christmas reading and then put it aside. I’m glad I picked it up when I was having trouble deciding what book to start. The beginning of this book felt a little slow to me which is why I think I put off getting back to it. I understand the need to show what happened with Ada’s mother and Lord Byron but some of the chapters of Ada’s early childhood in her perspective were a little tedious. I felt the book picked up as she began her studies and her interest in Flyology. She became more real to me then. I found her life to be interesting, especially her brilliant mind. Her mother really was led for the rest of her life, it seems, by what happened with Lord Byron. I find it nice that Ada rests near him on his former estate. Glad I finished this book. I will be thinking about Ada.
mhoffrob's review against another edition
1.0
It is a very rare thing that I don't finish abook - but that almost happened with this title. It just seemed to drag on and on. I found the main character / narrator to be rather unlikable - a haughty, entitled (even for her time) woman who described herself "precocious" and claimed to remember being an infant. The endless and drawn out descriptions of her mathematical studies seemed to go on for pages without relief. Occasionally there would be spurts of interesting story telling, but generally, I just didn't enjoy this and found myself reading the first two sentences of several paragraphs just to finish more quickly.
I usually enjoy historical fiction - perhaps this delved too far into a solitary person's thoughts and started to feel too contrived to me. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this pseudo-memoir at the moment. Either way, I cannot recommend it.
I usually enjoy historical fiction - perhaps this delved too far into a solitary person's thoughts and started to feel too contrived to me. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this pseudo-memoir at the moment. Either way, I cannot recommend it.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
3.0
ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS
Written by Jennifer Chiaverini
(Narrated by Virginia Leishman)
2017; Dutton/Penguin (446 Pages)
(Audio length: 20 hours and 2 minutes)
Genre: fiction, historical fiction, Britain, history, science, math, biography, women
RATING: 3 STARS
I have to admit that I became more interested in Ada Lovelace due to her father, Byron. I enjoyed Byron's poetry and study him and his friends, Mary and Percy Shelley's work for school. He is a fascinating person in literature history. He also sounds like a huge jerk to people around him. And, the whole thing with his sister is definitely...odd. Then I heard about Ada and all her accomplishments with math and science blew me away. It was so cool that a woman from her class and time was able to get so far. I was so happy to see that Chiaverini was writing a book on her. Chiaverini has most written about American historical figures, especially in the Civil War era. I was really interested in reading this one.
Chiaverini is a good writer and she was able to make Lovelace's time period come alive. With the narrator's accent and reading of it I felt like I was there. Chiaverini is great at descriptions and makes her books come alive. However, in that same vain, she is also too detailed. There are moments when it feels like a fact drop. While the time and place comes alive the characters sometimes become neglected as people and driven more by descriptions. The plot and story lines sometimes get lost and moments get dull. I think Chiaverini's novels could be brilliant if there was a bit more editor input. This book did get me excited to learn more about Ada and Byron. It is hard to say if I recommend this novel.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog
Written by Jennifer Chiaverini
(Narrated by Virginia Leishman)
2017; Dutton/Penguin (446 Pages)
(Audio length: 20 hours and 2 minutes)
Genre: fiction, historical fiction, Britain, history, science, math, biography, women
RATING: 3 STARS
I have to admit that I became more interested in Ada Lovelace due to her father, Byron. I enjoyed Byron's poetry and study him and his friends, Mary and Percy Shelley's work for school. He is a fascinating person in literature history. He also sounds like a huge jerk to people around him. And, the whole thing with his sister is definitely...odd. Then I heard about Ada and all her accomplishments with math and science blew me away. It was so cool that a woman from her class and time was able to get so far. I was so happy to see that Chiaverini was writing a book on her. Chiaverini has most written about American historical figures, especially in the Civil War era. I was really interested in reading this one.
Chiaverini is a good writer and she was able to make Lovelace's time period come alive. With the narrator's accent and reading of it I felt like I was there. Chiaverini is great at descriptions and makes her books come alive. However, in that same vain, she is also too detailed. There are moments when it feels like a fact drop. While the time and place comes alive the characters sometimes become neglected as people and driven more by descriptions. The plot and story lines sometimes get lost and moments get dull. I think Chiaverini's novels could be brilliant if there was a bit more editor input. This book did get me excited to learn more about Ada and Byron. It is hard to say if I recommend this novel.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog