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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
minty's review against another edition
2.0
I honestly don't know what to make of this book, historical fiction written as if it were a memoir by Ada Lovelace. It is so consumed with the minutiae of being a high-born woman of her time--and while yes, this drives home very strongly the constraints that were upon her, it was so. deadly. boring. Clearly based on her letters, I'm sure those were the things that did consume so much of her time. And for nearly every part that felt like it was too long, there is some payoff at the end. (So much time spent on Byron and his sister; so much time about Ada's governess as a child.)
It only gets into the actual math in the last quarter or so, and felt like a cursory overview of it. I definitely wanted more of that--especially as she eventually sends the kids off to live with others so that she can devote herself to it and ignore all those "women's" concerns!
My interest in this at all stemmed from the fact that when I was at Bryn Mawr, the server (a new thing; it was 1995 when I entered!) was named ada.brynmawr.edu specifically for her.
It only gets into the actual math in the last quarter or so, and felt like a cursory overview of it. I definitely wanted more of that--especially as she eventually sends the kids off to live with others so that she can devote herself to it and ignore all those "women's" concerns!
My interest in this at all stemmed from the fact that when I was at Bryn Mawr, the server (a new thing; it was 1995 when I entered!) was named ada.brynmawr.edu specifically for her.
federicafrazza's review against another edition
4.0
Questa è la storia di Ada, della sua famiglia, del padre - celebre poeta - Lord Byron, della società inglese del 1800, della condizione delle donne di elevato ceto sociale di allora ma soprattutto della condizione delle donne acculturate e geniali di quell'epoca.
Ada per me è e sarà sempre la prima programmatrice di computer della storia.
Ada per me è e sarà sempre la prima programmatrice di computer della storia.
jhurl's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
reindeerbandit's review against another edition
1.0
i don’t even think i hit 100 pages before i realized i was just slogging through it. such a dry account of a fascinating woman.
misterintensity's review
1.0
Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, looks back on her life especially her relationship with her mother and her love of mathematics. The prologue is a long recounting of the tumultuous courtship and brief marriage of Lord Byron and Anne Milbanke including Ada's. After that overlong prologue Chiaverini has her narrator Ada recount her childhood from the moment her mother left Lord Byron when she was seven weeks old. Ada recounting events she couldn't possibly remember and probably wouldn't be told about in detail considering how much strain there was with her relationship with her mother was jarring. At points she goes into detail about everything that went on around her and how knowledgeable about various academic subjects ,which provides the reader some insight until you look at the date stamp at the beginning of each chapter and realize that she could not be more than two years old when these events occurred. Ada's unbelievable precociousness makes the first quarter of the book hard to get through. It doesn't get much easier to read as Ada gets older because every sentence is infused with how unfair her mother treats her and how she holds her back. This book covers almost all of Ada's life, yet it does not seem like she really grows much as a character as she gets older. The same could be said about her mother who comes across horribly, although Ada does not come out much better. Chiaverini's specialty is historical fiction which fleshes out the known facts of real people but they turn out to be more caricatures than real people. The book is at its strongest when Ada describes her mathematical and scientific passions, especially her work with Charles Babbage's Difference and Analytical Engines but that's something you could read about in Ada Lovelace's biographies and does not justify a fictional account of her life which really adds nothing but angst in her narrative. This book is mainly for those who like historical family melodramas, although outside of the prologue there really isn't much drama besides the tone of Ada's narration and that just make her an unlikable protagonist more than anything else. For those who want to learn more about Ada's place in computer science history you are better off sticking with the nonfiction works covering that very subject.