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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I liked the set up - bed-ridden London detective solves historical murder using books and his own unimpeachable understanding of humanity - but my lack of knowledge of British history probably robbed me of some satisfaction. A quick, thought-provoking meditation on the nature of what gets included in the history books, regardless.
Call it 3.75. I enjoyed the mystery, but my eyes kept glazing over during long descriptions of royal genealogies and where they all were on this or that day. It was very biblical in the sense of so-and-so begat whosit and lived 483 years and whosit begat whatshis and lived 523 years and so on. And in the end, most of it seemed irrelevant to the solution. You really have to care about the English monarchy to track about half the story. On the other hand the mystery of who murdered the princes in the tower is one of the great historical mysteries, and it was interesting to see how Tey pieced together Richard III’s character out of primary sources.
I adored this book - never has history been so fascinating!
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don't know this period of history well, but this book has whet my appetite. I love historical mysteries and this was a change of pace as the
main character is solving a 400 year old mystery...so no historical setting to draw details from. I thought the story was clever and really made me think. It is mostly about the dialogue and perhaps academic feeling, but I liked the challenge of following along.
"Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority." ~Sir Francis Bacon
(Trying not to make any spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk).
Loved this! However, since the publication of this book, Richard the III's body was exhumed from a parking lot in 2012, and further evidence and historical accounts seem to point to other conclusions than this detective novel makes. Enjoyed reading this so much and doing further research on Richard III. The impact of this novel on history and its readers changed a generation's perception of this king, and I think that's pretty cool.
P.S. Listening to Derek Jacobi narrate this was the bomb.com.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-detective-novel-that-convinced-a-generation-richard-iii-wasnt-evil/
https://www.superdoomedplanet.com/blog/2011/04/24/in-which-i-am-unconvinced-by-the-daughter-of-time/
(Trying not to make any spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk).
Loved this! However, since the publication of this book, Richard the III's body was exhumed from a parking lot in 2012, and further evidence and historical accounts seem to point to other conclusions than this detective novel makes. Enjoyed reading this so much and doing further research on Richard III. The impact of this novel on history and its readers changed a generation's perception of this king, and I think that's pretty cool.
P.S. Listening to Derek Jacobi narrate this was the bomb.com.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-detective-novel-that-convinced-a-generation-richard-iii-wasnt-evil/
https://www.superdoomedplanet.com/blog/2011/04/24/in-which-i-am-unconvinced-by-the-daughter-of-time/
This is my first experience with an audiobook and I think this was a good one to start with b/c I'm not sure how far I would haven't gotten with this book if I just sat down to read it. It's read by Sir Derek Jacobi so it's pretty hard to go wrong there. He does very well, of course, particularly w/ all the various characters and the subsequent brit dialects. (His American's a little stereotypical and inconsistant, but I have to admit I'm a bit of a snob.) As for the book itself, it's a fascinating idea well executed. I love the things you learned about history incorrectly recorded or how an event gets completely changed (or in this case invented) to suit someone else's ends. The author creates charming solid characters that anchor the mystery at the book's center nicely. My problem was I'm not a huge Brit history buff so I had trouble keeping names and sides straight. Since it was an audio book I was tempted to go back and replay sections of info that rushed by quickly just to put the pieces together as I would if I were reading a book. Ultimately I opted to listen to it as read since b/c realistically I'm not sure I would have gone forward if it wasn't being read to me. Also, since it's an historical and therefore theoretical problem, the resolution couldn't help but feel a bit anticlimactic (to me at least).
An incredibly unusual mystery, revealed through portraits, conversations, archival work, and lists of names. Perfect for the history nerd in all of us.
*4.5 stars
Although not your typical historical fiction novel, it is a striking example of the genre. Instead of being set in the past alone, it takes a man in the (to when it was written) present contemplating the line between historical fact and fiction. Enlightening and fun to read, only knocked off points because it’s a little foggy and confusing at times (but that’s European History for you!).
Although not your typical historical fiction novel, it is a striking example of the genre. Instead of being set in the past alone, it takes a man in the (to when it was written) present contemplating the line between historical fact and fiction. Enlightening and fun to read, only knocked off points because it’s a little foggy and confusing at times (but that’s European History for you!).