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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Playing detectives with a historical narrative, Josephine Tey creates a compelling case for Richard III, playing devil's advocate and cleverly using thriller and mystery conventions to deliver a case for the defence which we don't question - as our detective solves the murder mystery. Very readable, and a book that's created generations of advocates for Richard Crookback. I read this in 1961, it is the most memorable, in every respect, mystery that I ever read. A classic,"sui generis", not to be missed! I can't recommend this highly enough. Years ago it was the first eye opener for me that history might not be all the textbooks said it was, but this time I simply enjoyed the humor and interactions of the characters. I think it possible that Richard III is right up there with Hamlet in my list of "dreamy maligned heroes." Such a great, fast read. good book, but there are many names to keep track of (History of England in late 1400's-early 1500's.) no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0684803860, Paperback)Josephine Tey is often referred to as the mystery writer for people who don't like mysteries. Her skills at character development and mood setting, and her tendency to focus on themes not usually touched upon by mystery writers, have earned her a vast and appreciative audience. In Daughter of Time, Tey focuses on the legend of Richard III, the evil hunchback of British history accused of murdering his young nephews. While at a London hospital recuperating from a fall, Inspector Alan Grant becomes fascinated by a portrait of King Richard. A student of human faces, Grant cannot believe that the man in the picture would kill his own nephews. With an American researcher's help, Grant delves into his country's history to discover just what kind of man Richard Plantagenet was and who really killed the little princes.(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:12 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Thomas More gets sarcastically called "the sainted More" for his biased account literally almost every time he's mentioned, which is annoying. But Josephine Tey is guilty of exactly his opposite - by arguing so hard and one-sidedly for Richard's innocence, she makes him into Saint Richard, who is just as unrealistic as the aforementioned personification of evil. If there is anything Tey and her readers should take away from this book, it's not that Richard was an innocent lamb. But history is more nuanced than could ever be recorded, and the biases of both author and reader shape a simplified narrative out of it to their own ends. (