Wednesday, August 19, 2015

"The Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey - Review

Re-published with some modifications.

Of course, if you are interested in tragic life of England's Richard III, Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time" is an obvious choice. This is exactly what I did after finishing Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour". Actually, it is widely acknowledged that Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time", had started the renewed interest and reevaluation of Richard III and his "role" in disappearance of Princes in the Tower. 


Published in early 1950s, this short book mainly consists of conversations between several people discussing several original sources available about the fates of Richard III and princes in the tower. These sources are analyzed, as if court evidence, from police detective's point of view.

Tey is correct to point out the existence of several noticeable weakness about evidence that portray Richard III guilty in eliminating his own nephews. It is true that no contemporary records within England talk about disappearance of the princes. It is true that once boys were declared illegitimate, Richard III had no reason to eliminate them.

However, for me two questions remains unanswered: (1) were the boys truly born from illegitimate marriage or was the evidence faked to make Richard III a King?  (2) If Richard III accession was legitimate and he was a good King and no one thought he was guilty of crimes against his nephews, then why would he seemed so desperate to gamble his life during the crucial battle of Bosworth Field against Tudor pretender?

posted by David Usharauli        

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