Josephine Tey presents an enthralling historical mystery that envelops the minds of policeman Grant who is bedridden and bored in a hospital, and the American student, Brent Carradine who is in pursuit of a worthwhile occupation. Tey’s novel begins simply, where a portrait inspires Grant to ask questions about the history surrounding Richard III’s reign and his villainous legacy. The process which he uses begins with asking his friends who visit him and the nurses who attend to him in the hospital about what they know. He reads two school textbooks and then asks for other historical works, from apparently legitimate historians. Through his investigations and police-like thinking and methodologies, in collaboration with Carradine, they uncover historical inconsistencies and “breaks” within the story.
I was thoroughly confused reading this novel, and it was difficult to keep track of all of the different actors, their motives, who they were related to and how, what dynastic titles they had and who was next in line to become king. The details of history, as Tey shows, are extremely important and primary sources, staying within the “account books” vs accounts of people are important to finding the truth. Grant’s position throughout the novel is similar to Tuchman, where she believes that historians must stay within the discipline of the facts. This is problematic though, because what constitutes facts? Often, as we saw with the discussion of John Dickinson’s birthday in class the other day, or in Thomas More’s history, historians base their writings off other historians accounts, without questioning it. So, detailed investigative work, using primary sources and questioning others interpretations of history is essential to telling a more truthful or accurate story.
After much time has passed, truth is birthed.
-Eddie
Josephine Tey’s historical fiction novel “The Daughter of Time” is a beautiful woven story that, while sometimes incredible, blends reality with fiction seamlessly. Tey tells the story of a bedridden cop who decides to unravel the mystery behind Richard III, one of England’s most notorious criminals. Tey’s background in history allowed for her to incorporate many of the methods in research used by historians. What I found most interesting in this novel was the cop’s (Grant’s) insistence on the ignorance and stupidity of historians. Do his thoughts on the subject mirror Tey’s? Or is she simply creating a character?
After reading this novel, I understand how people can be very suspect of history. For all we know, 90% of the stories we are told in history class are lies told by biased individuals. A quote that sums up this message: “It is a completely untrue story grown to legend while the men who knew it to be untrue looked on and said nothing.” (Tey 104). This definition of history shakes the ground that most historians stand on.
By using the term “tonypandy” to describe any type of nonsense created and turned into history, Tey clearly mimics the work of historians who do not do their research thoroughly and who take for history what they hear on the streets.