I had a hard time getting into this book. The constant run on sentences drove me nuts. Since I did not finish the book, I do not intend to publish a review.

I have read Jennifer Chiavarini's quilting novels and enjoyed them all. Of her historical novels, I have read Mrs. Lincoln's Rival and found the story to be quite interesting. So...I was truly looking forward to reading this book. I found the history to be fascinating. While I knew something about Byron's relationship with his half sister. I knew less about his marriage. I knew almost nothing about Ada and her complex relationship with her mother. Reading about her life was compelling. I would rate this book more highly except that I wished the narration had been a bit livelier.

The prologue on the Byron marriage, considering that the period recounted (from Annabella's point of view) was the most tumultuous of Byron's life, is pretty even-handed. Byron's "corruption and sin" are on display, but so are Annabella's prudery and brittle priggishness. The body of the novel is narrated by Ada at the age of thirty-five (unknowingly very close to death), recounting her life story from early childhood in chronological order. Good for what it is--a very straightforward historical fiction. A little tedious at times.

What a thoughtful and thorough portrait of Ada Lovelace, the overlooked pioneer and heroine of computer science and modern technology. I briefly studied the work of Lovelace and Babbage in library school, but Chiaverini's book gave me an entirely new appreciation for her life and passions. Her struggle for independence and respect outside of her father's shadow was a fascinating story to follow.

I found the amount of time and focus put on Lovelace's childhood and relationship with her mother to be a little unnecessary, but other than that I really enjoyed this read and discovering a new heroine for the library and information science community!

Although I was interested in the life of Ada and had enjoyed other novels by the author, I was very disappointed in this portrayal. I found it to be repetitive and plodding. It just was not a fascinating read of the probably the world's first computer programmer.

I love reading about Ada Lovelace, and this was a nice fictionalized account of her life that read really smoothly. Jennifer Chiaverini has proven herself to be an expert writer, and this read should not disappoint her fans.

Not a proper biography, but an imagining of what Ada Lovelace might have thought and felt about her parents, and about mathematics and the possibilities of difference engines.

If it wasn't for the details (all those details), the repetitive clashes between Ada and her domineering mother and some lengthy chapters... I would have given this book five stars.

But = wow = what a fascinating story of Lady Lovelace and her perpetual struggle for independence, and her hunger for science and intellectual debate.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Story of Augusta Ada Byron, the daughter of Lorf Byron. It focuses on her childhood and her mothers estrangement from Lord Byron. She was brought up to have no access to fairy tales or poetry from fear she would be unbalanced. An interesting story but somewhat difficult to work your way thru!

I was very much looking forward to this, as I'm a bit fan of Ada Lovelace, but the writing style was not for me.

I enjoyed reading about Ada Lovelace's life, especially since the only thing I knew about her was that she is considered to be the first computer programmer.

This was the first book I've read by Chiaverini, and I found the writing style to be... well, lacking somewhat. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I should have been; it seemed like Chiaverini was didn't want to stray too far from the facts of Ada's life, but in doing so these historical personages come off as rather flat characters. I wish the book had flushed out the relationship between Ada and her mother, as well as that of Ada and Mr. Babbage (about how their working relationship worked, about how the machine worked, etc.). Ada's involvement with the Analytical Engine is what she became known for, but I felt like the importance of it gets lost in the telling of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I only read a bit of this before setting it aside. It has what I would describe as a faux 19th century writing style; I found it annoying.

I have been a big fan of Jennifer Chiaverini since her first Elm Creel Quilters book and while at first I was sad when she stopped writing those books and turned to historical fiction, I have been delighted with everything she has done since then. Jennifer makes history come alive and gives you a feeling of what it was like to live at the time and place she is describing. I learned so much in this book about Ada Lovelace, someone I previously knew nothing about, and her place in history and I would highly recommend it.