When Anne Boleyn wakes up the day after her beheading, she sews her head back on and sets out to seek revenge—in a queer-feminist retelling of one of history’s most egregiously wronged women.
“Nobody was surprised at Anne’s conviction. The world loves to put a woman in her place.”
The Beheading Game begins in the hours after Anne Boleyn’s beheading, when she wakes to find herself unceremoniously in an arrow chest, her head wrapped in linen at her knees. Discarded by King Henry VIII for not being able to give him a male heir, reviled by Cromwell for being too smart for her own good, and executed based on trumped-up charges, Anne escapes the tower, sews her head back on, and sets out on a quest for vengeance.
Traveling in the guise of a commoner, Anne is befriended by Alice, a sometime prostitute, who helps her navigate the London streets she never before walked. Anne soon realizes how little she knew about life in the real world. Following Alice to the fenlands, where she lives with her children, Anne finally has a chance at the peace that eluded her as queen. She also finally has a true friend—and perhaps more. Despite her newfound happiness, Anne is tempted to return to London to save her daughter and kill the king.
If Kelly Link married Hilary Mantel, the result might be The Beheading Game. Filled with magic and danger, steeped in Arthurian legend, meticulously researched, The Beheading Game is an epic journey through the wilds of British royal history and a prescient reminder that “mouthy” women have always been punished.
