![]() With little interest in the daily demands of motherhood, Annabella spends much of her time convalescing at various health spas while a series of nurses, nannies and tutors raise Ada. She forbids any activity that would encourage Ada’s imagination, from fairy tales to her dream of learning to fly. ![]() ![]() Alas, the marriage of the prim, practical Lady Annabella and the louche Lord Byron collapses soon after Ada’s birth.Īppalled by Byron’s cruel and manic behavior, Lady Annabella is determined to overcome the tempestuous “Byron blood” her daughter shares. She overcame her unwanted celebrity as the daughter of English Romance poet Lord Byron - and the strictures on 19th century womanhood - to forge a career.Īda’s heiress mother, Annabella, becomes engaged to the scandalous Byron despite warning signs as glaring as a billboard in Times Square (unusually passionate clinches with his male best friend and, perish the thought, Byron’s own sister). Ada Byron King was a pioneering mathematician whom some consider the first computer programmer. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, Enchantress heralds a woman whose contributions are relatively overlooked in history. Should you come upon Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini (Dutton, 426 pp., ★★★½ out of four), consider yourself quite fortunate indeed.Īs with Chiaverini’s Mrs. ![]()
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