I thought that this was an interesting experiment. At the outset I found it a little difficult to read but I did keep with it and was glad I did in the end. The combination of the two stories never quite meld properly but it really is a good attempt. If you are a fan of Byron it is probably worth the read. For someone who is not familiar with Byron ot his works this one may be a little difficult to grasp. ( )

Beautifully crafted but ultimately unsatisfying. The stuff purportedly written by Ada is the least convincing. ( )

An epistolary novel, a gothic novel and footnotes all rolled into one.

The structure of the novel is a epistolary tale told in emails of Alexandra Novak (AKA Smith) of her finding and decoding an old manuscript which turns out to be Lord Byron's lost novel, along with notebooks provided by Ada Lovelace, his only legitimate child.

Most criticism of the novel has concentrated on the modern tale - that of Smith corresponding with, primarily, her partner, her father, and employer. This section provides the editor's explanation of the manuscript - how it was found, it's veracity, etc. This is a standard prop of the gothic novel but usually is dispensed with through an editor's introduction in a traditional gothic novel - in a postmodern text it normally becomes a story itself and a method of commenting critically on the fiction itself. (Helpfully, Smith's partner is a mathematician, and her, an expert on Byron). Crowley's explanation of the manuscript unfortunately gets bogged down in the minutae of code-breaking, which though interesting in itself drags the narrative. Admittedly, the code-breaking allows the author to discuss Ada's mathematical prowess but it adds little to the story. Smith's relationship with her father is also there to reflect on Ada's relationship with her father but I never quite bought the estrangement between them (modern technology makes it harder to engineer non-communication), and using Roman Polanski's infamous case of underage sex as the basis of why Smith's father can't meet her was very distracting.

The gothic novel itself, The Evening Land of the title, is a superior pastiche. Excellently written, it has all the hallmarks of a true gothic novels - remote wild countries, doubles, false identities, hints of the supernatural, legal cases, etc. Everything that should be here is here, plus it operates as a fictional gothic biography of Byron. But, for all it's merits, there is something missing at the heart of it - a sense of exuberance, of flamboyance that inhabits the best gothic tales. Crowley's tale is almost too well done, too good a pastiche that it can't break the control of the author and develop life of it's own.

In many ways, though by far the shortest of the three strands, Ada's footnotes contain the most interest. Through simple annotation Crowley is able to tell a potted biography of Ada Lovelace, while revealing the innermost workings of her mind and her heart. While the other two threads are well-written and structured this is the one thread that rises above the mere technical to provide greater insight and emotional impact.

The three stranded approach also allows the author to bake his cake and eat it - in that he gets to provide three differing endings rather than the standard one.

Technically this is a superb novel and is written with Crowley's customary skill but the technique too often overwhelms the content, which results in a novel that is easier to admire than love.
( )

A novel with three levels: Byron's putative novel "The Evening Land"; notes on the "novel" by his daughter, and pioneer computer programmer, Ada Augusta's; and email correspondence between three present-day researchers as they piece together "The Evening Land" and the story of its creation and transmission. I found Byron's novel, and Ada's notes, fascinating: John Crowley is a wonderful writer, and proves as effective at pastiche of Byron as he is writing in his usual style. The only thing that stops me giving this novel five stars is that I didn't find the present-day, outer framing story as compelling as the two inner stories. Still highly recommended, however. ( )

I love this novel so much. It was very enthralling with the different narratives/perspectives. I found myself finished with the novel the same day I began. I was very impressed with Byron's story within the novel itself. So much so that I devoured his poetry and a collection of Byron's letters that I found. Crowley captures his spirit and spins a wonderful tale at that. ( )