The Daughter of Time was the first required reading for my medieval history course (HSTAM 235: Medieval Mysteries), and I found it completely delightful. The protagonist of this work is an English police officer who was injured on the job and is laid up resting at a small hospital. A highly perceptive detective with a wry wit, Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is unused to boredom and inactivity, and struggles immensely with the tedium of convalescence. That is, until his vivacious actress friend brings him a folio of paintings of faces. Grant's intuitive ability to read criminals' faces snags on one mysterious portrait - a suffering, noble face Grant is dismayed to learn is that of the barbaric Richard III. His curiosity deeply piqued, Grant teams up with a charmingly oafish young history buff to unravel the mystery of the murder of the princes in the tower. Fascinating analysis with a surprising conclusion. (And a bonus reference to our illustrious ancestor, Sir Robert Brackenbury.) Delicious language enhances this very enjoyable thriller.
Wow! This sounds like a can't miss winner read - Folio Society frequently features and lauds several books by Josephine Tey, but I have never read one....this seems like a great one to start with. Thanks!
ReplyDelete:) Let me know if you read it, and what you think!
ReplyDeleteFinished it recently and really enjoyed it. The latter part of the book was not so compelling to me, as it was devoted to the evidence regarding the princes' fate - much of which was difficult for me to appreciate fully, as I didn't know the family trees and references....but, as Lauren says, delightful, witty, engaging language and an entirely fresh view of Richard III. Wonder what academic historians (who are skewered repeatedly in this book) now think?
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