“Why was Anne Boleyn executed? This was a question I asked myself when writing The Beheading Game, in which Anne Boleyn wakes up after her own execution, escapes from her grave in the Tower of London, sews her head back on, and goes on a revenge quest to kill Henry VIII before he can marry his next wife, Jane Seymour. Legally, the answer is she was executed because she was convicted of the crimes of treason, adultery and incest, but most historians today agree those charges were probably false. So, how did Anne go from being a queen consort, steps from the seat of English power, to climbing the steps to the scaffold in a matter of months? Sometimes the simplest explanation is the most likely, and, although I came to many answers to this question during my research, all of them circled around one central theme: misogyny.”
― Rebecca Lehmann, Interview, Crime Reads
What booksellers are saying about The Beheading Game
- What would happen if Anne Boleyn was able to reattach her head after her execution and seek revenge on Henry VIII? This historical reimagining is part fantasy, part fiction, and pure feminine rage. A beautiful story about one of history’s most famous women and how she gets to rewrite her story. Will be recommending to this lots of customers as a great book club pick.
― Claire, River & Hill Books in Rome, Georgia | BUY
- Absolutely loved this fantastical retelling of the death, and apparent continued life of Anne Boleyn. We meet Anne when she wakes up in a dark place…after her execution, and nobody could be more surprised than she is with this odd turn of events. She quickly flees the tower and sews her head back on and off we go on an adventure through Tutor England, full of Fairy Tales, magical friendships, and revenge.
― Jessica, E. Shaver, Booksellers, Savannah , Georgia | BUY
- More alternate histories avenging wronged women (and women’s wrongs!) please! Take this delightful tour into Tudor England along with Anne Boleyn, the recently beheaded then mysteriously resurrected Queen, as she takes on a revenge campaign against Henry VIII to secure her daughter Elizabeth’s ascdendancy to the throne. Brilliantly researched and thrillingly paced, this is Boelyn novel we didn’t know we needed.
― Amanda, Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg , Florida | BUY
- An ingenious historical retelling of the execution of Anne Boleyn that seamlessly blends horror with the fantastical. Armed with a needle, thread, and a head freshly sewn back on, the reader is treated to a feminist Medieval reckoning of epic proportions. Smart insights, lovely prose, a fairytale-like plot, and sweet, sweet revenge make this novel something you do not want to miss.
― Joshua Lambie, The Underground Bookshop, Carrollton, Georgia | BUY
About Rebecca Lehmann
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..
