Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

As a lover of historical fiction and non fiction, I was excited to read this book about Ada Lovelace. My knowledge of Lovelace was limited prior to starting the book. All I knew about her was her work - first computer programmer! Her work with Babbage! What I didn't know was she was the child of Lord Byron and spent her life trying to run away from his name and scandal. It's a beautiful story about independence and the struggle to always keep learning.

ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS Written by Jennifer Chiaverini
December 2017; 446 Pages (Dutton)
Genre: historical fiction, history, biography, science/math
Listened to on Audio

(I received an ARC from the PUBLISHER via NETGALLEY)

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 didn't love but didn't dislike this novel. I read indifferent. I think that the author spends too much time on trivial matters. I wanted more.

Enchantress of Numbers is a wonderful novel about the life of Ada Lovelace. The story begins before Ada's birth, with the tumultuous courtship and marriage of her parents. As Ada's mother tries to shield her from Byron's excesses, I was made even more curious. There are so many wild stories about Byron, who was completely incapable of keeping it in his pants OR keeping his mouth shut afterwards.

This story is has some Romantic drama, with wild twists of fortune hinging on archaic inheritance laws, and the melodramatic custom of sending and keeping locks of hair, for example. On one hand, yes, I definitely have some ticket stubs for sentimental value, so Romantic-era me would totally have a secret locket with a lock of hair, but on the other hand, no fair covering up a portrait with black crepe and then freaking out when people mention it. COME ON ANNABELLA, you're slipping into Gothicism. Are codified mourning clothes not enough for you?

Anyway, a lot of the this story is devoted to Ada's upbringing. To prevent any of Byron's excesses in his daughter, Ada is forbidden to read poetry, or imaginative fiction, or indulge in creative play. Even outside of these forbidden creative areas, whenever young Ada takes an interest in something, her mother reins her in, because her mother worries that Ada's Byron blood will show in all-encompassing passions and dangerous manias. This pattern happens over and over, and it's not entirely clear whether Ada enjoys new interests, especially with a lack of playmates, or whether she really shows signs of getting dangerously obsessed.

At one point, Ada gets a crush on her tutor. She's sure she's in love, but reading it, I had to wonder if she was a lonely young teen who attached herself to the only person who showed her kindness and encouraged her intellectually. Her mother sees this as Byron's impulsive blood coming out, since young Ada has managed to escape educational seclusion to form an inappropriate romantic relationship with a young man with no family or money. (Actually, I vaguely remembered that her future husband was called William King, and I kept hoping her tutor would come into an inheritance and marry her.) This is where the first-person narration really shines, because it seems like a girl's first crush, with Romantic notions, and the era's worry that being unchaperoned with a man makes her ruined for any future husband.

I've written about Ada Lovelace on my main blog, and I've read other books about her life, but somehow I didn't realize quite how young she died. Maybe I got distracted by the Difference Engine or maybe I first encountered this when 36 seemed like distant adulthood. But she really doesn't have too much time after meeting Charles Babbage and Mary Somerville, and corresponding with the great minds and intellectual societies of the day. She doesn't have much time to live as she wants, pursuing her own interests and friendships.

I thought the amount of the story devoted to the worry that Ada would follow her father's excesses meant that the end of the novel would make this clear, but I was basically left wondering if Ada did show dangerous signs of Byron's manias, or if she was a bright child who was punished for showing any signs of imagination and creativity.

I was aware of the relationship between Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage but had absolutely no idea that she was the daughter of the poet, Lord Byron. However, there were just too many elements to the story and at times I got lost, not sure what the point was or where the story was going, and I certainly would have welcomed fewer letters, however much they added to the historical record.

I thought I was reading about the journey for the first computer and came away with a story of a very unhappy and unloved daughter of an angry controlling mother and the oppressive rules that governed women of peerage in 19th century England. The lack of support and the utter disdain for their education and intellectual achievements was crushing.

Ada enjoyed the support of a small group of friends but even the mathematician Mary Somerville who ultimately became her mentor, questioned if the “spark of heaven is not granted to our sex,” leaving her to conclude that if Mrs. Somerville thought she had no genius or originality, “then what hope was there for the rest of us? What hope was there for me?” Ada experienced few occasions of uncomplicated love and devotion in her very short and lonely life, a very sad story.

This cover is gorgeous and I was interested to find out more about Ada Lovelace's work with Charles Babbage as I knew they were associated, but only vaguely. This was a slow read for me, tedious at times as so much of it is Ada, alone with her governesses or her mother's friends, angry and lonely, a brilliant mind with not enough to keep it busy. She did not have an exciting life, and was often ill, but in spite of being the daughter of a wealthy mother, she was nearly a prisoner, as her mother sought to keep her from falling prey to her bad Byron blood, by keeping her imagination reined in. Luckily her mother did approve studies in math and science, or the world might not be where we are now!

This is my first read by Chiaverini, but I am interested in more. While it was not a quick and smooth read, as I mentioned above parts were somewhat tedious as there was much description of not a lot happening, that does serve to give an idea of how Ada herself must have felt, wanting so badly to experience life and being held in check by her mother's fears that she will turn out like her father. Apparently I was the only person who didn't already know that Lord Byron the poet was her father!

I think lovers of historical fiction with an interest in Ada Lovelace's life will enjoy this, it is not heavy in actual math and science, but more description of Ada's experiences and interests in those studies and relationships with some of the great minds of the time. The Analytical and Difference Engines of Babbage are mentioned, and described in a way that a person not familiar with them should be able to follow along and have a good idea why they were important. Even though it is told from Ada's point of view, there is a lot of set up from before her birth and while she was very young that helps to establish her mother's feelings about her father, which will in turn affect Ada's entire life. Her story is often a sad and lonely one, but then I wonder, had she not been watched so closely and kept focused on math and science, but allowed more freedom of imagination, what might she have done instead with her brilliant and all too short life? Would we have computers as we now know them?

Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, was a mathematical genius. Long a hero to technical women (she invented the idea of the computer program), she greatly deserves the wider attention this novel will give here.

Told in the first person,Chiaverini's book covers all of Ada's life, from her parents' courtship, and short marriage, to her own education, marriage, and career. Living in the mid-19th Century, the path Ada walked was almost completely unknown, there were few women in the sciences. Happily she was lucky, once she was grown to have male and female friends, and a husband who either helped her or allowed her to flourish.

It wasn't always easy for her. Besides putting up with fame that came to her through her father, she also suffered from her mother's ambivalent feelings towards her husband and towards Ada's gifts. I really liked that Chiaverini did not ignore these things but used them to give us a rich and full portrait of an intriguing woman.

Ada Lovelace, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, was the first computer programmer: those early punch cards were her idea. This enchanting novel reimagines Ada’s youth, spent longing for the father she didn’t know, raised by a mother so fearful of her ex’s “dark passions” that make-believe was banned from the home. An enchanting story about one woman’s struggle for intellectual recognition and independence.

This fictional account of Ada Lovelace's life exudes fact and passion, while blending it with a narrative that makes you feel as though you're in the novel with her. It was extremely well researched, and is written so that you feel as though you're inside her head. The lack of dialogue is troublesome, but not bothersome. At least for me, I was more fascinated by the detail and attention that was paid to really notice any or many flaws in the writing. The author has written the whole of Ms. Lovelace, though it is written as a novel, it could hold its own as an actual biography; very little is left out. It is interesting to see how she's portrayed Lord Byron as well, both as who he was and as Ada's father. There are many historical figures that get brought up, or stay at the periphery of this novel that you might think it was accidental, instead of purposeful. This novel is truly, a remarkable account of one of the most important and remarkable women in history.

tl;dr Review:

Quick and easy read about an amazingly brilliant woman who history has left consigned to its footnotes for many years.

Full Review: 



Since I saw that this novel was written by the same author as Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker I knew I had to pick it up. I loved that book and often tend to love books written by authors I already know.

Jennifer Chiaverini also wrote The Spymistress and Mrs. Lincoln's Rival, both of which I also loved, so this seemed like the perfect read for me over the Thanksgiving holiday.

I didn't realize how perfect though this book would become but I was grateful for the way it was written. Because it's written in sort of a diary format, it allowed me to dip in and out easily.

When you're dealing with the crazy holidays and trying to get things done, a book that allows you to step away at a moment's notice is ideal.

The story also fascinated me because although it's a fictionalized account, the book's subject Ada Lovelace and her accomplishments are all real.

Ada was a brilliant woman whose life was considered tabloid fodder because her father was Lord Byron. But her intelligence was so far beyond her years and she's been recognized as the world's first computer programmer. All of this in the early 1800's to boot.

If you're looking for some dramatic tale filled with plot twists and romance and all the accouterments of a Dan Brown novel, then this is not for you.

However, if you're looking for a fun, easy, and enlightening read about a badass woman who was way before her time, you'll love it!

In the mid 1800s, woman (Ada) -- and poet Lord Byron's (George Gordon, sixth Lord Byron) daughter -- studied mathematics and wrote instructions for the first computer program.

After Ada's birth, Lord Byron is so cruel to Ada's mother (Annabella, descended from Henry VII) that she takes the newborn and returns home to her parents. There, she is banished from reading fairy tales or playing imaginary games. How soon before Ada realizes that one's education is enhanced, not hurt, by the use of imagination and passion?

This story was loaded with a plethora of historical details. I love immersing myself in the worlds created by Jennifer Chiaverini! I would recommend this one for a patient reader who loves historical fiction, mathematics, computer programming, and/or strong female characters. At first, I wondered why Ms. Chiaverini included so much information from Ada's early childhood but finally, towards the end of the book, understanding dawned after a secret was revealed.

Since I am an MIS graduate myself, I was very intrigued by Ada, her pursuit of mathematics, and her interest in Mr. Babbage's computing engines. I thought Ms. Chiaverini did a fabulous job creating Ada's voice, character, and personality.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

At about 60% through been having a hard time keeping my interest. So far some aspects are interesting, but overall the book is entirely too long. I may still persevere and update if I do finish. I keep waiting for the time of her amazing accomplishments as a woman in science for that time period, but slogged down by so much detail.

Enchantress of Numbers is a memoir told by Ada Byron King, daughter of the controversial poet, Lord Byron. This book was very long and a good portion of the book dealt with Ada's childhood, her very.long.disturbing.childhood. I found it somewhat hard to believe that a toddler had such extensive memories.

I was interested in the scientific / mathematical aspect of Ada's life but the memoir centred mostly on her childhood and life as a mother. The book was really long and dragged a fair amount. I really couldn't develop a connection to either Ada or her mother but continued reading because I love history and was interested reading about Ada's contribution to the first computer programming machine.

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini is novel about the life of Ada Lovelace. Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, is the only child of Lord Byron and his wife, Annabella. Not long after Ada was born, Annabella left her husband (Lord Byron had mental problems) and returned to her parent’s home. Annabella does everything in her power to make sure the Byron blood does not destroy Ada’s life. Fairy tales, make believe, poetry, passion (for life, ideas) and imagination are banned while mathematics, science, and languages are stressed in Ada’s education regime. We follow Ada through her lonely childhood into adulthood with her overbearing mother and unorthodox education. While in London during her first season, Ada meets Charles Babbage. Ada is fascinated with Babbage’s Difference Engine and the plans he has for the Analytical Engine. Ada wants to do what she can to help Babbage realize his dream. She continues to study advanced mathematics, meets the love of her life, discovers the reason her parent’s marriage fell apart, and continues to pursue the development of Babbage’s inventions. Will Ada be able to assist Babbage in achieving his dream?

Enchantress of Numbers is well-researched and contains interesting information on Ada’s life (if you make it that far into the book). The writing reminded me of a boring textbook (very dry). I loved Jennifer Chiaverini’s The Elm Creek Quilts series which is well-written, has a good pace, and wonderful characters. Enchantress of Numbers did not feel like it was written by the same author. Part of the problem was the first-person narrative. The story is first told from Annabella’s perspective and then from Ada’s point-of-view. She shares her reminisces starting with infanthood (which is unbelievable). Can any person remember being a baby especially with such detail? It reminded me a diary where Ada tells us how her mother controls her life (never meets her father, told her blood is bad). Any time Ada gets close to a caretaker, they are fired. If she shows an interest in a subject (like making wings), it is discouraged. The characters came across as flat. They were not brought to life. Ada (as well as her mother) is an unlikeable protagonist. I find it difficult to read a book when I do not like the main character. The mathematics sections will put many readers (non-mathematicians) to sleep (great if you suffer from insomnia). They dragged on for pages. The book was too long (it seemed to go on forever) and it was overly detailed. Many times, I wanted to abandon my pursuit of completing this Enchantress of Numbers. There were a couple of interesting sections, but they were few and far between. I’m sorry, but I was not enchanted by Enchantress of Numbers.

Although I usually start my reviews with the positives and then follow them with misgivings, I’m going to depart from tradition with this book, and I hope you’ll understand why. As some of my readers already know, I’ve noticed that with historical fiction, authors don’t always know how to reach the perfect balance between fiction and facts. This happens most often when there is a plethora of true information available about that person, even when it seems that few people know about them. This is precisely the problem I had with this book. While it may seem unfair of me, once again, the book I was hoping to read and what I received, were two different things.

To be specific, I already knew a little bit about Lady Lovelace, in that she had some hand in the mathematics that went into building a machine that many would consider the forerunner of today’s computer. I also knew about the punch-cards used in Jacquard looms to create intricate patterns and designs for woven fabrics, and how those cards eventually led to using a similar system for inputting data into computers (and I’m old enough to have worked on a computer like that). So, my interest with the Lovelace of then and learning more about what she did that led to computers was irresistible to me. Unfortunately, the opening 30% of this book focused solely on Lord Byron and his marriage to Ada’s mother, through their disastrous separation. While this give the reader great insights into Ada’s long-suffering mother, and motivation for how she treated her only daughter, I’m almost certain that this could have been deleted from the book without any detriment whatsoever.

When Chiaverini finally got to Ada’s tale, I was really hoping that we’d get quickly into the real meat of the story. However, Chiaverini starts out by leading us to believe that Ada could recall the most obscure details of her early life, even from her first weeks and months after her birth. With this conceit, coupled with a surplus of intrigues and scandals within the extended Byron family (that lasted decades), Ada’s accomplishments seemed overshadowed, apart from the many references to how deeply (almost obsessively) she loved to study math and science. Of course, the irony here is how often Chiaverini notes that Ada wanted to do something and be recognized in the world for her own accomplishments, and not just as Lord Byron’s only legitimate daughter.

You might ask, therefore, why I bothered to finish reading this book. The fact is, I couldn’t stop reading it because Chiaverini is such a marvelous writer. Her style beautifully fits the period, with lush descriptions (although I could have done without some of the details of the dresses) that made every scene come alive. Yes, there were times when I found myself skimming some of the text, but that was very rare. I know I use the word “compelling” often when reviewing books, but when the shoe fits… and Chiavernini’s prose just kept me fascinated, so kudos to her for that. Furthermore, the readers will feel an intimacy with Lady Lovelace throughout this book, as Chiavernini writes it fully from Ada’s viewpoint, as a type of fictionalized memoir.

In addition, I must admit that Lady Lovelace’s contributions to the field of math and science, though significant in hindsight, weren’t what anyone could call massive, or extensive, or even large. What she accomplished were three very important influences on Charles Babbage and his “engines.” Those were her suggestion to use the Jacquard loom punch cards for more efficiency of entering data, her publication of her notes on Babbage’s work, and her writing an algorithm for one machine. By the way, that algorithm is arguably considered to be the first “computer program.” So, with only two breakthroughs and one major publication (which the world of science initially lauded, but then dismissed after they found out that it was written by a woman), I realized that any historical fiction novel about Lady Lovelace would be very thin indeed if it didn’t include at least some of her family’s history – both famous and infamous.

In short, if you’re looking for a book about Lady Lovelace that divorces her from her renowned father and his notorious life, this isn’t it, but I’m afraid that novel will either never get written or will be very short. However, if you’re looking for a novel that encompasses everything that Lady Lovelace was and did, and everything that influenced her short life, this is just the thing. Mind you, I personally think it included far too much extraneous information (particularly the first 30% of the book), but that only proves how marvelously well researched this book is, and that’s in Chiaverini’s favor here. All things considered, I’m still willing to recommend this book, but I can only give it three stars out of five.

Nothing of the poetical must take root in her mind!

Fascinating look into the life of Lord Byron's daughter, Ada Byron King, a gifted mathematician and visionary.
Rigorously guided by an overbearing, fearful mother who's one concern is that her daughter not have the contagion of excessive passion that her father did, it's no wonder Ada's brilliance found an outlet via reasoning and calculations. Her relationship with Charles Babbage and his Analytical Machine is that of a far seeing acolyte who comprehends the machine's wide ranging future possibilities and joins his fight for government funding and recognition.
Ada's mother's relationship with her daughter is mostly uncompromising, bordering on obsessively harsh at times and barely understandable at others. Lady Byron's fear that blood will tell and that her daughter will be as wicked as her father governs the way Ada is raised.
At times I felt weighted down and oppressed by Ada's upbringing, for Ada it obviously was so much more. It seems she just was never allowed to just 'be'.
Still I couldn't help but be intrigued by the upbringing this woman experienced, the way she had to carefully govern and restrain herself to gain what she desired. The way friends of her mother's surrounded and channeled Ada's energies. Not for nothing did Ada label these friends, The Three Furies.
Ada survived her childhood, eventually married and was able to pursue some of her dreams.
As Chiaverini says, 'It is an immeasurable loss to mathematics, computing, and poetical science that Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, never had the chance to discover the fullness of that energy and power.'
Chiaverini's fictional account, based on rigorous research bears this out, combining as it does biographical data to present a well rounded story. I found this an intriguing revelation of an unknown (to me) extraordinary woman.

A NetGalley ARC

Interesting history, but a bit long. Enchantress of Numbers tells the story of Ada Byron King, the Countess of Lovelace, who was Lord Byron’s daughter, and is considered the first computer programmer.

Written by Jennifer Chiaverini, Enchantress of Numbers starts off with a lengthy prologue that details Byron’s relationship with Ada’s mother, Lady Annabella. While this prologue and detail of Byron and Annabella’s relationship was necessary to set the stage, the problem here is that Byron is so fascinating, so full of personality and drama that the rest of the book doesn’t live up to the magnetism of his story.

Byron’s daughter, Ada, narrates Enchantress of Numbers and we see solely into her head and thoughts. While she was passionate about mathematics and learning, unfortunately she never quite leapt off the page for me. I could feel for Ada, and how the legend of her father shaped her mother’s choices in her upbringing, and some scenes were difficult to read. Difficult because Ada’s mother wouldn’t allow Ada to have any imagination at all, worried that she would follow her father’s path. This feels so cruel as Ada yearns for fairy tales and information about her father.

Since Ada focuses so much on mathematics, and I must admit math has never held my interest, some of the sections were very slow and boring to me. Now, someone who loves math and has a mechanical mind might find this fascinating, as Ada meets Mr Babbage and learns about his Difference Engine, and works away on solving problems with the machine.

Before I read Enchantress of Numbers, I had no idea who Ada Lovelace was, and about her contributions to computers. I can appreciate her drive and determination, and this book really showcases her talents and her story, but it was too long and slow in places. Since we just hear from Ada’s POV, I think the book would’ve been more interesting had it been told from multiple POVs. I really would’ve loved to see inside the head of Ada’s mother, Lady Annabella. Other potential POVs would be Augusta (Byron’s sister), Lord Byron himself, and Mary Somerville, a mathematician who takes Ada under her wing. I also would’ve loved to peek inside Babbage’s thoughts as well.

So while Enchantress of Numbers told an interesting, important story, it felt very long (Goodreads has the length at 448 pages) and parts of it were dull, especially when compared to the dramatic prologue. Those with mathematical minds may really love this! It was truly wonderful to read a book where the main female character was focused on math and science.

Bottom Line: Interesting enough, but it has some dull parts.

Thanks PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and netgalley for this ARC.

Jennifer Chiaverini makes her historical figures come alive. I've read biographies and novels about Ada before but none come close to this. Be ready for a knockout novel that you'll want to share with friends, children, and anyone who will listen.

I generously received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.
This is the fictional story of Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace whose father was Lord George Gordon Byron 6th Baron of Byron the famous poet and her mother Lady Anne Isabella Milbanke, 11th Baroness of Wentworth, whose marriage fell apart shortly after Ada was born.
She was raised mostly by her Mother's doting Grandparents, a long range of Governesses, Tutors, occasionally her Mother and her Mother's friends. Taught from a young age that her imagination is wicked, becoming a poet like her Father would be a terrible thing and encouraged to seek knowledge particularly of the Math, Science and Music variety, she had quite the interesting and yet at times lonely upbringing. Any time her imagination tried to soar, her Mother would clip those wings and repeatedly remind her that she'd better stay on the ground and keep her imagination in a locked box while also knowing how to be a well off lady.
It's a wonder that she grew into being such a kind, considerate and creative woman with an amazing Mathematician . She became close friends with the brilliant Charles Babbage( known today as the Father of the PC), Charles Dickens, fellow Mathematician Mary Somerville (who was also her idol) and many other fascinating people that had a hand in helping shape the world today.
She was a Mother to three, loving wife, devoted friend and had a rocky relationship with her Mother. She was passionate about trying to get the funding for her friend Babbage's Difference Engine to be shown to the world, even going so far as to write a series of notes as to he important this invention would be. One has to wonder how different life would be today if it had been successfully fully built at that time.
She was a woman ahead of her time who really cared about those around her and it's a shame she didn't get the fame she had hoped for and not just because she was Lord Byron's daughter. Her life was cut short at the age of thirty six due to cancer which is tragic to say the least. One has to wonder what she may have accomplished had she lived to her seventies or eighties.

It was such a pleasure to read this book and I enjoyed getting insight into how Ada's life may have been being a woman truly ahead of her time. This book has inspired me to want to know more about her and those she became friends with.