The Confession of Katherine Howard - Hardcover

Dunn, Suzannah

3.25

1,768 ratings by Goodreads

9780007258291: The Confession of Katherine Howard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007258291 ISBN 13: 9780007258291

Publisher: William Collins, 2010

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The new novel from the bestselling author of THE SIXTH WIFE. 'England: firelight and fireblush; wine-dark, winking gemstones and a frost of pearls. Wool as soft as silk, in leaf-green and moss; satins glossy like a midsummer night or opalescent like winter sunrise. Little did we know it but that night we were already ghosts in our own lives.' When twelve-year-old Katherine Howard comes to live in the Duchess of Norfolk's household, poor relation Cat Tilney is deeply suspicious of her. The two girls couldn't be more different: Cat, watchful and ambitious; Katherine, interested only in clothes and boys. Their companions are in thrall to Katherine, but it's Cat in whom Katherine confides and, despite herself, Cat is drawn to her. Summoned to court at seventeen, Katherine leaves Cat in the company of her ex-lover, Francis, and the two begin their own, much more serious, love affair. Within months, the king has set aside his Dutch wife Anne for Katherine. The future seems assured for the new queen and her maid-in-waiting, although Cat would feel more confident if Katherine hadn't embarked on an affair with one of the king's favoured attendants, Thomas Culpeper. However, for a blissful year and a half, it seems that Katherine can have everything she wants. But then allegations are made about her girlhood love affairs. Desperately frightened, Katherine recounts a version of events which implicates Francis but which Cat knows to be a lie. With Francis in the Tower, Cat alone knows the whole truth of Queen Katherine Howard - but if she tells, Katherine will die.

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Review:

Praise for 'The Sixth Wife': 'My, what a story! utterly compelling.' The Times

'Suzannah Dunn weaves a love story that is both moving and believable of second chances at love, and passion reawakened.' Telegraph

'Mesmerising and beautifully written.' Scotsman

Praise for The Queen of Subtleties: 'The Queen of Subtleties' offers a stunningly refreshing way of retelling an old story. I often abandon historical novels nowadays, but I really could not put this one down. It brings Anne Boleyn to life as never before, and, probably for the first time ever in fiction, Henry VIII emerges as a truly credible character in an authentic setting.' Alison Weir Praise for THE QUEEN OF SUBTLETIES

'A remarkable writer, a lyricist of ordinary life and ordinary people transfigured by extreme emotions.' Daily Telegraph

'Suzannah Dunn is that rarity among contemporary novelists: a genuine stylist. Her prose is like truffles -- rich, rare, dark, but never cloying.' Wendy Perriam

'Her ear for the rhythms of speech is unerring, her feeling for the minutiae of experience acute. It takes a good deal of artistry to create the illusion of real life, and she has managed something more difficult still, which is to show who us how strange real life can be.' The Times

From the Back Cover:

The tragic, moving, and gripping story of the ascendanceand fall of Katherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, and the best friend she nearly dragged down with her

When twelve-year-old Katherine Howard comes to livein the Duchess of Norfolk's household she could not bemore different than her poor relation, Cat Tilney. Yet, of all their companions, it is Cat, watchful and ambitious, to whom theseemingly frivolous young girl confides. When Katherine is summonedto the royal court at seventeen--to become, months later, the wife ofHenry VIII after he casts off his previous queen--she leaves behind anex-lover, Francis, with whom Cat is soon passionately involved.

But a future that seems assured for the pampered new queen andher maid-in-waiting lasts a brief year and a half, only to be imperiledby improper acts and scandalous allegations of girlhood love affairs.Imprisoned in the Tower and hoping to escape a most terrible fate, afrightened, desperate Katherine relates a version of events that onlyCat recognizes as a lie--as more than one life is threatened by what shealone knows to be the truth about Katherine Howard's past.

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