Description
'Original, audacious. . . A must-read for lovers of history, magic and revenge' Erin Kelly
Disgraced. Beheaded. Revived . . .
When Anne Boleyn wakes up after her execution she finds she is not yet ready for death. She has unfinished business with the king who had her murdered and is determined to secure her daughter, Elizabeth's, future. She escapes the tower, sews her head back on, and sets out on a quest for justice.
But Anne's path will not run smoothly as she encounters the dangers of London and the countryside, and rumours start to swirl about sightings of her ghost. Luckily for her, she will find help from a chance meeting with fenlander Alice, who offers her the possibility of a different future.
The Beheading Game takes you into the heart and mind of one of the most talked-about women of all time and finally gives her the chance to tell her side of the story.
'Magic, romance, revenge, and an utterly irresistible heroine - this book is an instant classic' Lev Grossman, author of The Bright Sword
'Vulnerable, furious, triumphant and moving, I never wanted to let go of the deeply human Anne that Lehmann conjures' Kat Dunn, author of Hungerstone
'Fabulous! A marvelously inventive and mythic reworking of the story of Anne Boleyn. I loved it' Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love
About the Author
Rebecca Lehmann is an award-winning poet and essayist. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was a Maytag Fellow. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Between the Crackups; Ringer, winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize (selected by Ross Gay); and The Sweating Sickness. Her writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, NPR's The Slowdown, and the Academy of American Poets' Poem-a-Day. She lives in Indiana with her family, where she is an associate professor of English and Gender and Women's Studies at Saint Mary's College.
Reviews
A cracker of a novel - subtle, satisfying and irresistibly inventive * Mail on Sunday *
[The Beheading Game] won me over with its inventiveness, its exuberance and a portrayal of Anne and Henry's marriage that is more nuanced than many a conventional telling * The Times *
Anne Boleyn is dead; long live Anne Boleyn. In Lehmann's playful revisionist history, Henry VIII's second wife wakes up in a box after her execution, sews her head back on with a needle and thread and gets down to the business of assuring her daughter Elizabeth's ascendance to the throne (or, if you want to put a finer point on it, revenge) * New York Times *
An original, audacious twist on a tale we all think we know. A must-read for lovers of history, magic and revenge -- Erin Kelly, the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE POISON TREE
Magic, romance, revenge, and an utterly irresistible heroine - this book is an instant classic -- Lev Grossman, author of BRIGHT SWORD
Lyrical and audacious, The Beheading Game, pulls no punches in re-imagining this well-known story. In turns vulnerable, furious, triumphant and moving, I never wanted to let go of the deeply human Anne that Lehmann conjures -- Kat Dunn, author of HUNGERSTONE
Fabulous! A marvelously inventive and mythic reworking of the story of Anne Boleyn. I loved it. -- Kelly Link, author of THE BOOK OF LOVE
Rage-fuelled and love-filled: a vengeful, sapphic romp through Tudor England in the company of a resurrected Anne Boleyn to die for. Wildly imaginative and full of heart -- Holly Race, author of SIX WILD CROWNS
'In The Beheading Game, Rebecca Lehmann's fierce and audacious imagination soars, bringing us Anne Boleyn as we have never dared to see or imagine her before. Sister, mother, wife, avenger: In Lehmann's brilliant hands, ferocious, feminist Anne turns from hunted to hunter, from disdained to loved, a transformation that is pure poetry. Anne's search for justice could awaken the dead and will awaken every reader from the very first page. If you have ever wanted better for Anne Boleyn, this unlikely love story is for you. -- V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of the Women's Prize-winning BROTHERLESS NIGHT
Brilliantly imagined, stylishly written, satisfyingly plotted, full of delicious surprises: all in all, hella fun. * Kirkus *
Book Information
ISBN 9781787305687
Author Rebecca Lehmann
Format Hardback
Page Count 336
Imprint Harvill
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 532g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 164mm * 31mm
