Historical Fiction About Important, Overlooked Women

We love historical fiction that's based on real people—especially incredible Ada Lovelace might have led a life of ease and boredom if not for her mother, Lady Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron, who left Ada's famous father, Lord Byron, when Ada was only 7 weeks old. Lady Anne educated her daughter in mathematics, rather than poetry, as a means of protecting her. As a young woman, Ada Lovelace combined her father's wildness and passion with a fierce mathematical intelligence. When she encountered Charles Babbage, the results were startling.In this remarkable novel, readers meet the small girl who learns human anatomy while working in her father's laboratory. Before the invention of the camera, and long before the age of selfies, few people had any idea what they, or the people they read about in newspapers, looked like. Marie's remarkable skills meant that she could create wax images of faces. When Paris erupted in revolution in 1789, those skills were in high demand as members of the nobility—faced with Madame Guillotine—wanted some record that they had once existed. Marie Tussaud changed the ways that we "see" the rich and famous.Forugh Farrokhzad is raised in Tehran by parents who insist that being an obedient, modest daughter is the most important thing she can be. But Farrokhzad envisioned a different life for herself, which included a passion for poetry. Writing poetry brings her into conflict with her parents, and against her will, they marry her to a man with whom she has nothing in common. She rebels by continuing to write poetry, and by commencing an extramarital affair. Farrokhzad faced repercussions for her choices, but decades later, her story will inspire readers. Some of her poems can be found.