The Daughter of Time is one of those books that when you read it can really change the way you see things. Usually this happens with a novel about important social issues, but there are those who have been affected by classic literature or a moving love story.
This novel changed the way I see things as an entertaining detective tale about an investigation into the distant past. Also, this wasnt like a book I usually read, it was more like a history book but with a more compelling story.
When you start reading you might wonder who cares about princes in the fifteenth century. What does it matter who was responsible for their deaths now that everyone involved has been dead and gone for more than 500 years? But truth is important and how you go about learning the truth can be more important still.
Josephine Tey's interesting mystery starts with her hero, Inspector Grant, stuck in the hospital with a broken leg. Bored out of his mind, he turns to studying faces in historical portraits. Without knowing who he is, he classifies Richard III as a man of principles and integrity.
Annoyed that he has misjudged one of the most infamous murderers in history, Grant starts to read everything he can get his hands on about the original "wicked uncle." Yet the more he learns, the more he begins to wonder if the books are wrong and if Richard could be innocent.
With the help of a young researcher, Grant begins to investigate the mystery of the princes' death. He does so by starting from scratch, disregarding the "rumor" of general sources that simply repeat what others have said, and looking directly at the "evidence" to be found in laws, letters, and even account books. When the "testimony" of a witness is offered in the form of a journal, he questions the motives of its author and checks the information against what is and is not known as fact.
In other words he conducts his investigation much as he would a modern day criminal case.
The story is captivating and the characters are likable, but what affected me most about this pleasant tale is the way the past was presented as a mystery to be solved. History is not simply a reading of facts, dates, names and places. It is a science, a constant effort to understand and learn from the truth which is the daughter of time.
Within the boundaries of the tale, author Josephine Tey does a fairly decent job of vindicating Richard III. The reader also must be careful about accepting the facts. The Daughter of Time is a great novel every student searching for higher education to look into.
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