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The Daughter of Time (Inspector Alan Grant, #5)

Josephine Tey

Start date: August 1, 2022

Finish date: August 31, 2022

Discussion: Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

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Mar 02, 2018 Manybooks rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, favourites-read, history, book-reviews, historical-mystery

While I do well now realise and accept that Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time is in many ways rather massively speculative with regard to Richard III and the fate of his two young nephews Edward and Richard, the so-called princes in the tower (the Tower of London, to be exact), I still and always will have both a nostalgic love for The Daughter of Time and yes, indeed, continue to be impressed with and by Josephine Tey's narration and much of her background research (and of course by extensio While I do well now realise and accept that Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time is in many ways rather massively speculative with regard to Richard III and the fate of his two young nephews Edward and Richard, the so-called princes in the tower (the Tower of London, to be exact), I still and always will have both a nostalgic love for The Daughter of Time and yes, indeed, continue to be impressed with and by Josephine Tey's narration and much of her background research (and of course by extension also her main protagonist, detective Alan Grant).

And although I certainly now no longer have the massive literary and historical crush on (to and for me sadly misunderstood and unjustly maligned) Richard III that I had in 1984 (when I was a lonely teenager and read The Daughter of Time for a high school English literature project) I still and nevertheless firmly believe and continue to agree with Josephine Tey and her literary creation Alan Grant that Henry VII actually had considerably more and obvious reasons for wanting the two princes in the tower removed, for needing them to be gone forever than Richard III did (as they in my opinion were much more of a potential obstacle and threat to the former’s path to the English throne than to the latter). For Edward, Richard and their sister Elizabeth had indeed been declared illegitimate by an act of parliament (and whether wrongfully or rightfully does not really all that much matter here). However, after their uncle Richard III's death in battle and the repeal of said very parliamentary act which had declared Edward IV's and Elizabeth Woodville's children illegitimate (and this indeed needed to happen for Henry Tudor to be able to legally wed Elizabeth of York), the two princes in the tower would of course then have been first and second in line to the English throne, and their claim to the British throne was always much stronger and considerably more solid than Henry Tudor's own claim ever was. And with the children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville suddenly no longer illegitimate, young Edward would have of course been king, with his brother Richard his heir apparent (and no, NOT Henry Tudor).

Entertaining, thought-provoking, readable and above all, delightfully fun, I have definitely enjoyed The Daughter of Time as much this time around as in 1984, and yes, I do recommned it warmly and highly to anyone with an interst in historical mysteries, and especially the life and times of Richard III (who might indeed have well been shown a bit too glowingly and positively by Josephine Tey, but who in my mind was most definitely also not the vile and horrid monster as envisioned by Shakespeare). ...more

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Mar 14, 2008 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hf-medieval-europe, read-2008, historical-mystery, richard-iii

A policemen version on the mystery of the Princes of the Tower, very interesting to be read.

Free download at Project Gutenberg Australia ...more

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Aug 12, 2022 Kate rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: england, mysteries, read-in-2022, 20th-century-literature, historical-fiction, historical-mystery

"Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is intrigued by a portrait of Richard III. Could such a sensitive face actually belong to a heinous villain — a king who killed his brother's children to secure his crown? Grant seeks what kind of man Richard was and who in fact killed the princes in the tower."

A very fascinating romp through English history. Is the research detailed in these pages true? If so, then Richard III is not responsible for the disappearance (& probable murder) of his nephews from th ...more

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Aug 09, 2022 Natalie rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

This story began in telling us about Inspector Alan Grant in the hospital, bored and looking for something to occupy his mind. He is given a hand done portrait of Richard III and begins to wonder about him and his life. I was about a 100 pages in before I realized the mystery of this book was Richard III's reputation.
Richard III supposedly, in his effort to secure the throne, killed his two nephews who were some of several in line for it. Grant borrows several history books, trying to hunt down ...more

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Nov 25, 2018 Tom Britz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Daughter of Time is an historical mystery novel. Alan Grant is an inspector for Scotland Yard, he's laid up in a hospital with a broken leg, and going nuts with inaction. A friend comes to visit him and knowing that his sideline hobby is faces, she brings him a portfolio of portraits. The portrait of King Richard III, the person vilified throughout history as a murderer of children, intrigues him, as it is not the face of a murderer, in Alan's eyes.
Enlisting the help of a research specialist ...more

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Sep 01, 2021 Brianna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cecily, favorites, 2021-reading-challenge, historical-fiction, mystery

I gather this one's a Ricardian staple, along with The Sunne in Splendour, but for some reason it never seemed the 'right' time to read it until now. While The Daughter of Time isn't exactly what I expected (I somehow got the impression there would be actual time travel involved), I thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite the fact I already knew most of the facts that were small 'epiphanies' for Alan Grant, it didn't bore me at all; indeed, I found myself 'weighing the evidence' right along with him. Eve ...more

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