The Daughter of Time Term Paper

My work will be about a book “The Daughter of Time”. It is rather interesting for me to tell you my thoughts about this book. I will try to do my best and make your reading of my work pleasant. I want to describe you the main character of this book and pay attention on his way of thinking.  Also I will stop on different moments from this book and comment them in my own way.

Let’s start our discussing from the author biography or maybe not, it will be unimportant information about her biography; I think it will be better to say about her personal popularity. This book was written by Josephine Tey. It is not a real writer’s name, but like a big amount of authors she decided to work under this pseudonym. Her real name was Elisabeth Makintosh (1876-1952). She is known as an author of great number of detective novels. Josephine Tey’s popularity grew from the book to book. She is not so famous like Agatha Christie, but many people have read her books and liked them.

What genre is this book? It is simple to answer on this question: “The Daughter of Time” is a classic from the Golden Age mysteries. The author put forward her own ideas without insisting that they are fact and in such a way she encourages readers to do their own research and draw their own conclusions. I like her words about the history facts and their learning: “we will never learn the truth if we do not challenge the “facts” of history”.

Josephine Tey wrote a lot of novels, but “The Daughter of Time” considered the best her work and its discussing will be presented here in my work. Frankly speaking I look through information about this book before I began read it. I do it always, because I want to know what people think about this work and then I read the book and my own opinion appeared. I found such a short utterance and want you to become acquainted with this information too. Here it is: “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.”

I can’t say that this book is full of action and you will be involved in the events of this book every minute and every second, but it doesn’t mean that you will be like an outside watcher. I understand that if you like history and value an intellectual, careful analysis and don’t mind the somewhat tedious approach of the writing you will like it. If you know British culture and interested by historical facts, this is a captivating read that offers an alternative to the idea that Richard III had his two young nephews murdered in order to protect his right to the throne.

The main character of this story is an inspector Alan Grant. He is an inspector of Scotland Yard which knows his deal well and wants to be good in his work. He has his own way how to reveal different, sometimes mysterious deals and do it greatly. The book begins from the words about Alan’s leg (he broke it) and it is understandable that it happened on his last story revealing. He is boring and has nothing to do, but he can’t stay for a long time without some mysterious riddle solving and that’s why he looking what he can do. As we know from the public proverb that who looking for something will find it, he found a new secret for his mind too.

Alan Grant is a talented detective and he has a one interesting particularity; he likes to learn different faces. What can be better for a person who likes to learn other people faces to solve one more historical riddle? I think that find a good riddle will be the best variant.  Alan Grant become interested with  a contemporary portrait of Richard III that bears no resemblance to the Wicked Uncle of history. He had a such knowledge and his minds worked in different direction about this portrait and a question about this historical person was an obvious.

“Could such a sensitive, noble face actually belong to one of the world’s most heinous villains – a venomous hunchback who may have killed his brother’s children to make his crown secure? Or could Richard have been the victim, turned into a monster by the usurpers of England’s throne?” He decided to answer on this question once and for all. Of course he can’t do it by himself and he asked for a help people who know this topic best of all. Grant tries to solve this problem with the help of the British Museum and an American scholar, what kind of man Richard Plantagenet really was and who killed the Little Princes in the Tower.

Has an analytic storehouse of the wit Alan Grant found the answer on the most hard question. Face learning was his hobby. But it was at first before he began worked at Scotland Yard, and then this hobby became something like an instrument or maybe a key for different mysteries cases open. Interest of Alan Grant to the persons increased and began to look like the directed research. He was constantly engaged in the capture of data and their comparative analysis. He was sure that systematizing persons on groups is impossible, but it, however, can not prevent description of concrete person. Looking in a newspaper reporting about some sensational process with the pictures of actings persons, Grant never entangled a judge and defendant. Sometimes he could suspect defendant in an advocate, because an advocate differs nothing from all of other humanity, similarly defamed and avid, as all of people. Only a judge always looks honest and impartial. In a wig or without a wig, he always remains a judge.

Saying about his minds I’d like to mention that his deductions strike the simplicity and brevity. He is an attentive person and any detail couldn’t be hidden from his acute glance. I don’t want to be the person of his research, but maybe it will be rather interesting to know more information about myself. Can you imagine that detective look at you and begin to tell you about your life and your character? I think it will be interesting.

I told you about Alan Grant like a good detective, but I think it will be interesting to think about his relation with other people and especially with Brent Carradine. You will ask me: who is this person Brent Carradine? He is a man who visited one day Alan Grant and decided to help him in his new riddle solving. Brent Carradine was high youth with wavy blond hairs, crowning a high forehead, and in a too tweed sack-coat, negative-going careless folds ”“ in such words he was described in a book when he entered Grant’s room. Brent like history and the topic on what he was working under was straightly connected with Grant’s interested deal. I can say that this interesting case with Richard III make them almost friends, but not a friends; it is a wrong word. People who worked under one problem not a friends they are two researchers, who looking for the right answer and become in such way more closer in their thoughts and relations.

Brent Carradine took a big part in Grant’s investigation and it was an interesting to look at such tandem of a two man who looking for a historical true. I like the end of this book, when Alan Grant give his notes to Brent Carradine and allow him to make a good story from their joint history.

I like Alan Grant as a book’s main character for his intelligent thoughts and for his detective talent. I think that the author of the book had put in her heroes own treats of character and that’s why they become so intelligent and formed by her view on the world and on all things around her. Alan Grant has his own way of problem solving and it was very interesting to look on his way of thinking. I found that it is a hard to be a detective and you can do right conclusion only after a big work and when you learn all details and check out all possible and impossible variants.

This detective story, novel or mysterious novel ”“ you can choose the right title for you best understanding, was written like a historical analyze of that time situation and show us very brightly historical actions. I like to read about different mysterious and it was unusual to read about how a detective solve such seemed hard problem connected with royal family.

Do you believe that I have read negative words about this book?

Yes it is true, I have read negative this book review and after this book reading I understand that the author of negative words was really wrong. I agree that every person should have own opinion about every thing, and literature is among this things too. But if I see this person by own eyes and we will talk about “The Daughter of Time” my arguments will be so convincing that this person will be changing the point of view.

Summarizing all my words above I want to recommend for all to read this book and rest during this calm reading. You will know some interesting historical facts and it will one more step for the understanding the different mystery appearance.



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