Sunday 24 July 2011

My First 'Adult' Book


It’s the first Blogfest at “Heroines with Hearts”, the group blog to which I belong with four other writers.  The blogfest is to celebrate getting 100 followers, although we’ve now increased that to 111 – you can follow us at http://heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com and join in our discussions on a different writing topic each week, usually posted on Mondays.

The ‘rule’ for this blogfest is simple:  “All you have to do for this blogfest is fess up on the first adult book you picked up and read: whether a classic, a racy novel or that of unusual content, then post your entry on own blog July 24th/25th.”  Click here to read what other people have chosen as theit first adult book.

Actually this topic got me thinking.  My teacher in my final year at junior school introduced us to some of the classics, though only in bite-size pieces – selections from Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Kenilworth, Treasure Island.  In high school, I seem to recall David Copperfield being the first set book in our English Literature classes.



But what was the first adult book I actually chose to read?  As I thought more about this, the fog cleared and I remembered.  Well, it might not have been the first, but it was a book which had a profound effect on me – ‘The Daughter of Time’ by Josephine Tey. 


Alan Grant, a police inspector, is trapped in hospital with a broken leg and is bored out of his mind.  He considers himself an expert on faces so his friend gives him some portraits to study.  He decides one face is that of a man of conscience and integrity who has suffered, and is then shocked to discover that he is looking at a portrait of King Richard III, the ‘monster’ said to have murdered his nephews to gain the crown of England.

The rest of the book is Inspector Grant’s ‘investigation’ of the murder of the ‘Princes in the Tower’, similar to a modern investigation, but using 15th and 16th century ‘witnesses’ in different historical sources.  In the end, he comes to his own conclusions about the unreliability and/or prejudice of many of these witnesses, and forms his own opinion about the real villain.

Josephine Tey brought the controversy surrounding Richard III and the Princes in the Tower to a wide public audience in the 1950’s and is perhaps the most popular defense of Richard ever written.  Forget the fact that it is unbalanced and ignores the evidence against Richard, forget the fact that dozens more books have since been written which have examined all aspects of evidence. 

This book has inspired people all over the world to question the traditional (i.e. Shakespearean) view of Richard III as an evil, crookback murderer.  Ask any ‘supporter’ of Richard III what first got them interested and 9 out of 10 will probably say ‘The Daughter of Time’.

It has had a lasting effect on me, probably more than any other book I’ve ever read.  I won’t say it was this book which inspired me to become an historian, as I was already more interested in history than in any other subject.  But my interest in Richard III still continues, more than 50 years since I first read the book.  I now have a whole shelf of other books written about Richard and the Wars of the Roses, not least Sharon Kay Penman’s wonderful novel ‘The Sunne in Splendor’, and I've visited many places linked to the later 15th century, including Richard's own castle at Middleham in North Yorkshire.     

25 comments:

  1. That books sounds intriguing. I have read The Franchise Affair when I was a teen. I must read it again. :O)

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  2. Hi,

    Ooh, ooh, we had to read this for a history lesson. Yep, old Phelps, our history master often questioned aspects of history as laid down in history books, and I guess JT's book was a superb example to present to us kids in the context of lateral thinking. He was a superb history master: someone who inspired my love for all things historical. So for me it was a kiddy book! ;)

    best
    F

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  3. Think I read The Franchise Affair once, Madeleine, but it didn't have the same impact on me as The Daughter of Time.

    Francine, back in the Dark Ages (i.e. the 1950's) history was presented as facts, not to be questioned. The DoT was the first book I read which questioned and analysed the facts. Since then, the teaching of history has changed radically, thank goodness, and now kids are encouraged to compare and contrast primary sources, and to be aware of bias in both primary and secondary sources. Nowadays, the DoT might be considered a kiddy book, but it wasn't when it was first published in the 50's.

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  4. I think Terry Brooks was my first adult author.

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  5. I love history. For those that do, I think there's an event in life that triggers a life-long love of finding about about the past.

    That said, my favorite era in history is the American Civil War...and I can't for the life of me remember what triggered my interest!

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  6. Have to confess I've never heard of Terry Brooks, Alex.

    Hi Debra, my interest in the Civil War was first triggered by the Gettysburg movie - Martin Sheen, of course ;-), and then by John Jakes' trilogy.

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  7. Book can have an amazing impact on us. This one seems to have reinforced an already simmering desire. Sounds pretty amazing.

    .......dhole

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  8. That's quite a book to inspire you like that.

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  9. Good historical fiction is the nicest way to learn history!

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  10. Hi Donna and Christine
    This one certainly inspired a lifelong interest in Richard III and in Medeieval History. Many more detailed books about Richard and the princes have been written since, but this was the first of its kind.

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  11. Paula, Martin Sheen. Of course.

    I first got aquainted with John Jake's trilogy from watching the "North and South" mini series. Mnnn, mnnn, mnnn. Patrick Swayze as a southern general...need I say more?!

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  12. Hi Ana, The DoT is historical research in the guise of a modern police investigation, so it takes the reader through the evidence bit by bit, as the detective finds out more and more.

    Debra - I believe there was a lot of criticism of Martin as Robert E Lee, but if you read 'The Killer Angels' on which the Gettysburg movie was based, he certainly played the role as it was written by Michael Shaara.
    Got the DVDs of North and South, but not managed to watch them yet. But loved George and Orry!

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  13. Great choice! I haven't read them, but they are definitely being added to my TBR list!

    Love you blog! :)

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  14. Thanks, Amy! Hope you'll visit again sometime!

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  15. This book sounds REALLY good. I'll have to look for it.

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  16. It's available on Amazon, Sylvia, as is Sunne in Splendor which, although a novel, is THE defintive novel about Richard III.
    Thanks for visiting. Look forward to tour blogfest in August :-)

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  17. Wow, that sounds like a fascinating book! It's like CSI or Sherlock Holmes (which I just finished reading)!

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  18. Interesting choice! I think I have to add it to my "to read" list. It's interesting to see everyone's choices for this blogfest.

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  19. I've not heard of ‘The Daughter of Time.’ Your review sounds interesting. Will have to take a closer look.

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  20. Hi, Jennifer, Sarah, Marsha - can recommend Daughter of Time as an excellent introduction to the 'mystery' of the Princes in the Tower and the still unanswered questions about how and when they died.

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  21. Not sure if Jack London counts? Was reading The Call of the Wild at age 8 my first adult read? Have to admit.... when I read the title I thought we were off into the realms of Story of O and Marquis de Sade territory *chuckle*

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  22. Some of the other blogs have Story of O and similar, mojo. I got into those kind of books much later!

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  23. When I was in college, a friend got me reading a Dwayne Dweyer book (or something like that). It was motivational life skills. I barely remember it but liked it at the time.

    Joyce
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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  24. Wonder if you would still like it if you read it again now, Joyce?

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  25. Sounds like a great 'first book'! I haven't heard of this one.

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