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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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Feb 07, 2020 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, borrowed-from-library

The "Daughter of Time" title is a quotation from the work of Sir Francis Bacon: "Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority."

Last year I read Josephine Tey’s Brat Farrar and quite enjoyed it. Tey is known for writing early mysteries, so I had expected somewhat the same fare from Daughter of Time, but I was wrong. There is a mystery at the heart of this novel, but it is a long debated one, the mystery of the Princes in the Tower and the blaming of their deaths on King Richard III, their The "Daughter of Time" title is a quotation from the work of Sir Francis Bacon: "Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority."

Last year I read Josephine Tey’s Brat Farrar and quite enjoyed it. Tey is known for writing early mysteries, so I had expected somewhat the same fare from Daughter of Time, but I was wrong. There is a mystery at the heart of this novel, but it is a long debated one, the mystery of the Princes in the Tower and the blaming of their deaths on King Richard III, their uncle. Most of us know Shakespeare’s take on the story, but that, of course, is the Tudor take.

Josephine Tey’s take is more even-handed. Alan Grant is a Scotland Yard inspector who is confined to a hospital bed with a broken leg, and to while away his time he begins an investigation into the facts of this case. With the help of a young man who is doing research at the British Museum, he begins to eliminate all the historical records and put together only the known facts of what was actually being done, where principals were, and what is known irrefutably to be true. He reaches a conclusion that it would be difficult to disagree with, and that version does not match the high school history books.

I have long had a bit of fascination with this little bit of history, so it was fun to review the facts with Grant and see where the path led him. It wasn’t, however, even close to being the novel I had expected. When Richard III’s remains were unearthed in 2013 and reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, there was a sense of something being put right for me. At last we were able to learn the extent of his bodily deformities, and if those were so exaggerated, I couldn’t help but wonder how much the deformities of his soul might have been exaggerated as well.

I puzzled over the title until I found the key to its meaning online in a quotation by Sir Francis Bacon. I have quoted it above. I couldn’t help wondering if the general public was so much smarter in 1951 that they would have immediately recognized the reference, since the book I read is obviously an original copy from the era, and Tey included nothing to explain the title...not even a reference to the quotation on the frontis plate.

In the end, the side story that was running (Grant and his sidekick) was more distracting than interesting. The meat, of course, was the history. Being a big fan of Philippa Gregory, I much prefer her method of writing from the viewpoint of a contemporary character--much less intrusive. Still, not a bad little book and interesting to hold in my hands a book that was exactly my age and know that someone was probably reading it the day I was born. ...more

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Jan 28, 2018 Janet rated it really liked it

Tey's book is inventive. The prose is clever and humorous. The characters are well drawn and enjoyable. The unraveling of the mystery of the disappearance of the two heirs to the throne takes us through history and propaganda. Thoroughly entertaining. ...more

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May 18, 2011 Becca rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, historical-fiction

Enjoyed my 2nd read of this. Not as great as I remembered, but I'm wondering if that is a first read is always the best thing. I read this years and years ago. Totally fascinated by the debate over Richard III! If you have no idea what I'm talking this book is a perfect introduction. The beginning is very slow, but stick with it. ...more

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