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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love when the syllabus says you have to read a book for December 6, but then your teacher tells you on November 29 that she wants you to read it by December 1. But it's totally fine, because I have a ton of time to read a full book. I mean it's not like I have homework for other classes or anything. Hahahahahaha.
I'm not really one to read these short murder mystery novels, but when it was suggested to me that this one had a fair bit of history and Richard III I just had to read it and I'm glad I did! Richard III is one of my favorite subjects to read about.
The book is set around inspector Alan Grant's time recovering from an injury in a hospital where he's understandably bored of the minutiae of recovering, as he can't go up (I never really understood if he had his leg broken or what) to Scotland Yard and solve crimes, an actress friend of his ignites the flame for solving one of the most popular mysteries in British history, that it, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. From then on, Alan Grant, with help of the hospital staff and friends, begin to uncover who really was Richard III and what happened to his nephews.
Spoiler alert, but not really: Richard was innocent and the Princes may or may have not being killed during Tudor times. This was no surprise for me so it was a pretty straightfoward book, but what I really liked was the sort of domestic? I don't know what to call it, way Josephine Tey told the story. For me, it didn't feel like I was reading a mystery book, but one where a character who happened to be a detective found an interest in a bit of history and went on to read about it more. I mean, the search for information was done in an organic way, as one does when interested in a particular historic subject, in the way one tell friends about something interesting. Nonetheless, in some parts, I could tell that format wouldn't work for a much longer book, as it turned quite old after a bit. It was exposition after exposition after exposition.
I guess what it really was about was how there's no actual "official" history or a factual one: there were people, contemporary or not, who told a version of events and other people took it as truth and other that don't. Basically, don't take history at face value because truth is the daughter of time.
The book is set around inspector Alan Grant's time recovering from an injury in a hospital where he's understandably bored of the minutiae of recovering, as he can't go up (I never really understood if he had his leg broken or what) to Scotland Yard and solve crimes, an actress friend of his ignites the flame for solving one of the most popular mysteries in British history, that it, the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. From then on, Alan Grant, with help of the hospital staff and friends, begin to uncover who really was Richard III and what happened to his nephews.
Spoiler alert, but not really: Richard was innocent and the Princes may or may have not being killed during Tudor times. This was no surprise for me so it was a pretty straightfoward book, but what I really liked was the sort of domestic? I don't know what to call it, way Josephine Tey told the story. For me, it didn't feel like I was reading a mystery book, but one where a character who happened to be a detective found an interest in a bit of history and went on to read about it more. I mean, the search for information was done in an organic way, as one does when interested in a particular historic subject, in the way one tell friends about something interesting. Nonetheless, in some parts, I could tell that format wouldn't work for a much longer book, as it turned quite old after a bit. It was exposition after exposition after exposition.
I guess what it really was about was how there's no actual "official" history or a factual one: there were people, contemporary or not, who told a version of events and other people took it as truth and other that don't. Basically, don't take history at face value because truth is the daughter of time.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
I wish someone had made me read this book in September when I was bedridden with a broken ankle! It would have been the perfect thematic read. And as everyone knows I am an ardent Ricardian!
As a novel/mystery 3 stars. As a history book defending the honor of a competent king, 5 stars! Why is this book called the Daughter of time, apparently from a proverb "truth is the daughter of time" Why do I keep hearing about this being the greatest mystery novel ever? Questions....
As a novel/mystery 3 stars. As a history book defending the honor of a competent king, 5 stars! Why is this book called the Daughter of time, apparently from a proverb "truth is the daughter of time" Why do I keep hearing about this being the greatest mystery novel ever? Questions....
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was recommended as a classic (perhaps even the best??) detective story. There was enough here to get me to finish it, but I don't get the love. I was told this was possible to read as a standalone (despite being the fifth in a series) but maybe I needed to read the others to have any positive feelings for the detective. His interactions with the nurses were so obnoxious that it made it hard to enjoy the revelations in the "case." Probably also less interesting for me because I don't care about the history much. This one was not for me!
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
History is many things, as you'll find out in this book, but it is never boring. This is a rollicking story, quite unlike anything I've ever read - a crime book where the detective, Grant, spends the whole time laid up in a hospital bed with a picture of Richard III for company, analysing faces, motives, and reinterpreting facts with the help of a young historian, Carradine. Written in 1951, it sparked a renewed interest in clearing Richard's name of the murder of his nephews, the infamous Princes in the Tower; eventually culminating in the discovery of the last Plantagenet king's body under a car park in 2012 (I'd highly recommend watching the doco!).
There's a lot of names to get your head around as Grant and Carradine dissect the history books, particularly as people often went by their title as well as their actual name. It's not only an incredibly well-researched story, but a considerate study of assumptions, motive, and image. What we're taught is only what someone, with a particular intent, wants us to know. History is written by the victors, after all. But, it can be rewritten, and the truth is often far more interesting than we imagined.
There's a lot of names to get your head around as Grant and Carradine dissect the history books, particularly as people often went by their title as well as their actual name. It's not only an incredibly well-researched story, but a considerate study of assumptions, motive, and image. What we're taught is only what someone, with a particular intent, wants us to know. History is written by the victors, after all. But, it can be rewritten, and the truth is often far more interesting than we imagined.