The Daughter of Time [Paperback]

I'm happy to see this book printed once again, and happier still to see so many comments posted on it. My own pleasure in the book was that like only a handful of others -- including In the Beginning by Chaim Potok & Contact by Carl Sagan -- this book manages to dramatize the love of truth and the thrill of the quest for knowledge. It doesn't work for everyone. Some people need more physical chase scenes. But Tey imparts the thrill of the chase to historical research, and has succeeded in getting a number of readers interested in exloring more. That's an accomplishment. If you do want to find out more about the subject, the Richard III Society (mentioned in the book) has a website, including an extensive online library. One thing I keep hoping for in books like this is that they will teach readers about evaluating information and filtering propaganda from fact. Whatever you decide about the guilt or innocence of Richard III, examining what happened to history in the hands of More and Shakespeare and all who read them uncritically points out that now and always -- don't just question authority, question *everything*. Francis Bacon said "Truth is the daughter of time -- not of authority." (The source of the title.) But time itself doesn't uncover the truth -- human minds do. The Daughter of Time is a "research procedural", demonstrating the methods of checking source documents and evaluating written records much like a police procedural demonstrates search patterns and physical evidence collection. The detective novel has always had a core theme of celebrating human reason and advocating that "the truth will set you free." I hope the high popularity of the detective novel these days means that theme is catching on.

Never having heard of Josephine Tey, I purchased this book and another, "Brat Farrar" on the strength of the description.
I have since read several other of the Tey collection, and I find them wonderful. Not a "mystery" in the usual sense, this is a novel which contains a so-called mystery. In other of her works, her Inspector Grant follows more conventional lines of investigating crimes. If you like one of Tey's books, I think
you will like them all. I highly recommend them.

What happened to Richard III's nephews? Josephine Tey takes a look at the tales of Richard, his nephews, and what happened at the Tower of London. Starting with the Richard of Shakespeare and Thomas More, Tey, (through her bed-ridden detective Grant) dissects the stories of Richard III and finds a few problems with the Richard III most people are familiar with. Whether this revisionist view of Richard stands up to scrutiny is up to those with more background in this area than me, but I thoroughly enjoyed Tey's portrayal of the search for truth in the face of legend.