Book description
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. '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
Suzannah Dunn is the author of ten previous books, all of which have
been critically acclaimed. She has written three historical novels: 'The
Queen of Subtleties', 'The Sixth Wife' and 'The Queen's Sorrow'. She
lives in Shropshire.
