The Confession of Katherine Howard - Softcover

Dunn, Suzannah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007258305 ISBN 13: 9780007258307

Publisher: William Collins, 2011

Synopsis

When 12-year-old Katherine Howard comes to live in the Duchess of Norfolk's household, poor relation Cat Tilney is deeply suspicious. 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 17, 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.

About this title

Review:

'Dunn gives the story a vivid, contemporary feel, and Katherine's conversations with her closest friend, Cathryn Tilney, are gossipy and intimate, full of sly innuendo and confidences.' Marie Claire

'Those who have fallen in love with the drama of the Tudor period will devour the Confession of Katherine Howard...an insightful foray into the life of one of Henry VIII's most misunderstood yet fascinating wives.' Scottish Sunday Herald

‘Gripping, a pageturner, a thriller ... Dunn’s book has an incisive insight into how manipulative people work.’ Dublin Evening Herald

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0007258305
• ISBN 13: 9780007258307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320