Title: Ming and Ada Spark the Digital Age (The Girls Who Changed the World, #4)

Author: Jackie French

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 5^th June 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: The fourth book in the best-selling Jackie French historical series that places girls centre stage.

Ming Qong is convinced that girls have changed the world throughout history.

History’s sister, the mysterious Herstory, believes that the more you know about the past, the better you can understand the future. And so she now sends Ming to work as a maid in an isolated English mansion to see a girl change the world in 1829.

But which girl? The young mistress of the house is lying in bed, recovering from the measles. Abandoned by her aristocratic mother and family, she may never walk – or even read and write – again.

Ming becomes friends with another scullery maid, Hepzibah, who is desperately teaching herself to read and longs to free slaves, as she and her parents had been. But what hope has a scullery maid?

From one of Australia’s favourite writers comes an inspiring series for all the young people who will, one day, change the world.

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Ming Qong is off on another adventure through time to see a girl change the world. This time, Herstory is taking her back to London in 1829, where Ming will work as a maid in an isolated mansion, but this time – there could be two girls she will see change the world.

Will it be the young mistress of the house she’s in, Ada Byron? Ada is recovering from the measles, unable to walk and see, and her mother shows no interest in her – but Ming does.

Or is Ming there to help Hepzibah, a black maid who faces racism daily, wants to learn to read, and wants to free slaves – yet dastardly plans see that under threat – and Ming is determined to help her – and see if Hepzibah changes the world.

All seems lost – maids can’t move beyond their station unless they’re lucky, and even when Ming is elevated to Ada’s companion, there’s still an order of things that must be followed – but surely one of these girls is going to change the world – and they will. In more ways than one.

Known as Minnie Wing in 1829, Ming is confused – sure, her adventure is less dangerous than previous ones, and she’s facing the prospect of dealing with maths, but she keeps wondering what she is ever going to do here – which stories is she going to tell and why? Much like the other books, Ming is there to help the girls towards who they will be as much as what they are doing now. She’s helping them work towards the things they are going to change and who they will become in their future in a world still rife with racism and sexism – things that Ming has witnessed never really go away throughout history.

Jackie’s new novel explores the childhood of the girl who would become Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician who knew Charles Babbage and Ada is said to be the first computer programmer and was very interested in maths and science – Ming is back helping her develop her ideas that will lead to the ideas Ada would have that led to the design of many programs we use today, and this fictionalised version shows how a young Ada might have developed her ideas, and might lived as a child, inviting readers to explore and experience history through a fictional lens but with a real person. This sort of historical fiction writing can be tricky – knowing what can be used and how, and how far one can alter things to make sense for the story but still have it align with what is known from history. I felt this was done well, even if some things were moved for the timeline, it still allowed Ming to understand how Ada Lovelace would come to change the world, and about life as a maid as well.

It celebrates STEM, knowledge, creativity, and loyalty through five characters who stood out to me: Ming, of course, Ada, Hepzibah, Mrs Blossom, the Cook, and Mrs Warren – who at first was a bit standoffish to me but she grew on me throughout the novel and her dedication to her staff, much like Cook who was more than happy to help Ming get better food to Ada – and I loved how Ming explained her knowledge about giving a sick person more than gruel and barley water. Not only did it suit the times she was in, but I also felt it suited her character, what she knew and her ability to be creative in all her exploits, making her a remarkable girl whom I think is also going to change the world.

This series is wonderful, as each story builds on the previous ones and we get to meet girls throughout history from all walks of life as Ming also navigates a life of racism, sexism, and questions about her mother – particularly after her experiences in this book with Ada, Hepzibah, and Mrs Warren, and the changing attitudes that she slowly sees coming in as truths come out across the narrative. With this in mind, it feels as though there is an overarching theme and arc that has been evolving since the first book, where Ming has had to have the experiences she has had during her time travel to prepare her for something yet to come – but what that is, you’ll have to keep reading to find out!

This series has been doing an excellent job of revealing hidden histories and stories, adding to what we know about events and people, because it allows readers to see that history is more than what the winners wrote down, more than what the official records show. Everyone affected by a time, event or person will have a story and something to contribute to history, and it makes it more complex, diverse, and richer than people may think it is.

Another great Jackie French book.