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In Byron's Wake

the Turbulent Lives of Byron's Wife and Daughter: Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace
Sep 06, 2018Nicr rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Sympathetic but reasonable portrait of a woman whose only claims to fame are marrying ill-advisedly and giving birth to "Lord Byron's daughter, his rare, extraordinary child," featured in the second half of the book--the brilliant, eccentric, quicksilver Ada. It's interesting, though, that the most compelling figure here remains Byron, present even when absent from the text. So he echoes down the centuries. Interesting perspective on Augusta, addressing questions that always seem to want answering. Also interesting on the posthumous trashing of Lady B's reputation following the calamitous publication of Stowe's gossipy Lady Byron Vindicated. Not much new here, but engagingly recounted.