I was both pleasantly surprised and quite intrigued by Rebecca Lehmann’s historical fiction The Beheading Game (2026). Set in the 16th century during King Henry VIII’s reign, Anne Boleyn, second wife of the king and mother to Elizabeth I, is beheaded due to false accusations of infidelity. To her surprise, Anne awakes from her death, sews her head back onto her body and wanders incognito among the commoners of England. She meets some interesting people and becomes reacquainted with others from her past life. While she is in her half “alive” and half corpse phase, Anne thinks back to her past with Henry and realizes he never deserved her. She comes up with a plan to murder Henry and to secure a future for her daughter as the next queen of England.
I enjoyed this plot because it is an interesting take on a historical figure. Within the first few pages of the story, I found myself thinking of it as a horror where Anne would enter frightening death realms to save her soul from an eternity of damnation after getting her head chopped off, but the story turned out to be completely different from what I was thinking. Though there is the fantastical element of returning from the dead, the main character’s personality, actions, reactions and emotions are very realistic. The story kept my attention. There are a few delightful parables told throughout the course of the novel. My favorite is the story about the fox who fools three sisters. That particular tale, which is found in the middle of the novel, made me want more.
Lehmann does a great job with the characterization of the main character. Anne starts off dependent, vulnerable to the world outside of royalty and still in love with Henry. Throughout the course of the book, her memories of the good times and bad times she shared with Henry come back to her as she is learning how to be a new version of herself. By the end of the story, she is independent, courageous and ready to stand up to the man she realizes never truly loved her.
My favorite character in the story is Alice, a woman who Anne meets during her life-after-death voyage outside the castle. Alice is clever, down-to-earth and an independent mother who is willing to do whatever she can to support her kids, which during that time meant prostitution. She is generous, and helps and protects Anne. Alice teaches Anne survival skills, like how to read others’ intentions, and how to see her own self worth. Alice proves to be a great friend to her. A character who Anne revisits when she goes back to the castle is Cromwell. Cromwell is the king’s “right hand man” and one of the few who conspired against Anne, conjuring the lies that she was unfaithful to Henry. King Henry is Anne’s husband who orders her death due to false allegations. Through Anne’s flashbacks to the past, we learn that Henry is unfaithful to Anne, chauvinistic, narcissistic, and down right evil. I bring up Cromwell and Henry because Lehmann does excellent in creating characters that I most despise. Both characters represent patriarchy which seeks to trample upon women. Although, I have to say that Cromwell does something noble by the end which shocked my socks off.
The biggest theme throughout this story is betrayal. Through Anne’s thoughts to her past, we learn there is Henry’s betrayal to Anne, Anne’s betrayal to her sister Katherine, Cromwell’s betrayal to Anne, and even Anne’s betrayal to Alice where Anne is not forthcoming with who she really is. Though the story is set during the 16th century, some of the social issues presented in it are still evident today like sexism, ageism, classism, and ignorance to mental health awareness. Overall, this is a great story with impactful characters and a nod to feminism. I give it a 5 out of 5.
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