A novel about Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, an interesting, highly intelligent real life heroine, an early female mathematician, who happens to be the daughter of the famous poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, seems like a good idea. An eighteenth-century upper-class life among Dukes, Earls, with a presentation to Queen Victoria, friendships and acquaintanceships with the leading intellectuals of the day, including Charles Dickens, Mary Somerville and Charles Darwin, seems as though it would be fascinating. And with an acclaimed author, the historical novelist Jennifer Chiaverini, writing the tale, it seems as though all the elements are there for a compelling read.
Even with all that going for it, the book somehow falls flat. It starts with a lengthy prologue that describes Ada's mother's ill-fated romance and marriage to Lord Byron. From then on, the story is Ada's, from her earliest childhood to her untimely early death. It takes over four hundred pages to accomplish that. It is extremely slow-moving, and more than a little repetitious, in that the same points are made over and over again.
I generally enjoy a novel with a lot of description, and if there are elements of the setting which with I am familiar (in this case the English Midlands), it adds to the appeal. In this case, though, I got tired of reading all about the decoration of Ada's and her families' homes, her gowns, and the unpleasant exchanges between her and mother. I think the book could have been trimmed down, more quickly paced, and the more dramatic sequences not separated so much by the extensive detail. It was more like reading a very lengthy personal diary, rather than a novel. If that was the intention, it succeeded, but it was hard to stay interested, even though I really wanted to.
I respect what must have been monumental research, and as a result I would like to read more about the work of Ada Lovelace, but in a non-fiction format.
No comments:
Post a Comment