Andersen Press to publish YA novel about Ada Lovelace

Andersen Press has acquired I, Ada, a new YA novel based on the early life of Victorian computer programmer Ada Lovelace, written by Julia Gray. 

Commissioning editor Chloe Sackur bought world rights from Louise Lamont at Luigi Bonomi Associates. Publication is scheduled for 3rd September 2020. 

Andersen has previously published Gray's novels The Otherlife and Little Liar. 

I, Ada is about the the early life of Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, although she never knew her father. Long after after her death, Lovelace became widely recognised as the world's first computer programmer. I, Ada follows her journey as she moves out of the grasp of her mother and meets a man who needs her visionary skills to bring his invention to life. 

Gray commented: "Ada Lovelace was a fascinating person. From the rigorous tutelage of her early years and her complex, challenging relationship with her mother, to the richness of her inner world and longing for the father she never knew, the more I researched Ada's extraordinary life, the more in awe I became of what she managed to achieve. Writing her story, encountering her vivid imagination, her battles with ill-health and the educators who inspired her along the way, was both a challenge and a delight."

Publication will be supported by a podcast series celebrating women in contemporary science where Gray will interview a host of experts. The podcast will discuss the careers of the women as well as the legacies they have left behind. The podcast is created by Gray and produced by Andersen Press.