Folger Book Club
The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann
In our first ever in-person session, Folger Book Club discusses Rebecca Lehmann’s exciting debut novel of Anne Boleyn.
Booking and details
Get TicketsDates Tue, Dec 8, 2026, 6pm
Venue Great Hall and Reading Room
Tickets $20 with discounts for Folger Members and Subscribers
Registration opens Thu, Aug 6, 2026 at 4 PM, with early access for members beginning at 10 AM. Become a Member
Our pick for the December 2026 Book Club is The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann. The author joins us as the guest speaker for this special in-person session at the Folger.
About The Beheading Game
Disgraced. Beheaded. And out for revenge . . .
We all know what happened to Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. But what if she woke up the day after her execution and took it upon herself to seek justice?
“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 laid to rest in a makeshift coffin, her head wrapped in linen at her knees. Discarded by King Henry VIII for being unable to give him a male heir and reviled by Cromwell for being too smart for her own good, she was ultimately executed based on trumped-up charges of adultery, incest, and high treason.
Anne escapes the Tower of London, sews her head back on, then sets out on a quest to kill Henry VIII before he can marry her own lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour. The stakes are high—if Jane gives birth to a rival heir, Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, will lose her claim to the throne. Traveling the streets of London in the guise of a commoner, with the help of a prostitute who becomes a trusted friend (and perhaps something more), Anne soon realizes how little she knew about life in the real world.
A fantastical journey through the wilds of England and Tudor history, filled with danger and magic and steeped in Arthurian legend, The Beheading Game is a prescient reminder that “mouthy” women have always been punished. Now, thanks to debut novelist Rebecca Lehmann, nearly five hundred years after Anne Boleyn’s death, one of history’s most maligned women finally has the chance to tell her story.
About the Book Club
Our informal Book Club is free and open to all. Our picks range from historical fiction to adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, encompassing a wide variety of genres.
Each session begins with a guest speaker exploring that month’s pick and an opportunity to explore items from the Folger collection related to the novel. Participants are then broken into smaller groups for breakout discussions, moderated by a team of staff and volunteers.
Schedule for the evening
- Book signing in the Great Hall
- Self-guided exploration of the galleries
- Rebecca Lehmann in conversation in the Reading Room
- Small moderated group discussion of The Beheading Game
Why did we choose this book?
The Folger Shakespeare Library’s collection explores not only Shakespeare’s life and works, but also the plays’ historical context, source material, critical and performance histories, and the ways in which they inspire and are adapted by contemporary novelists.
The Beheading Game offers a unique perspective on one of England’s most infamous queens, focusing on the humanity that connects us all. The mother of Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn would have been remembered by Shakespeare’s audiences and her time on the throne is shown in Shakespeare’s play, Henry VIII.
Critical Reception for The Beheading Game:
“Lehmann captures this uncanny energy in her speculative rewrite of Anne Boleyn’s death, offering something that is less an “alternative history” than a cultural study of what exactly keeps her so alive in our minds nearly 500 years after the fact.” – Sophia Richardson, LA Review of Books
“The Beheading Game is masterful historical fiction with a magical twist” – Colleen Mondor, Locus Magazine
“Brilliantly imagined, stylishly written, satisfyingly plotted, full of delicious surprises: all in all, hella fun.” – Kirkus, starred review
“Lehmann offers deep character work, portraying Anne’s early self-righteous naivete and discovery of her political savvy, and she successfully pairs a thrilling plot with a complex reflection on the limits of women’s power. Readers will be delighted.” – Publisher’s Weekly
Content transparency
The Beheading Game includes potentially sensitive subjects. Expand below for a full list of content (includes spoilers).
Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Infertility, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse
Guest speaker
Rebecca Lehmann
Rebecca Lehmann is an award-winning poet and essayist. She has an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was a Maytag Fellow. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Between the Crackups; Ringer, winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize (selected by Ross Gay); and The Sweating Sickness. Her writing has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, NPR’s The Slowdown, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day. She lives in Indiana with her family, where she is an associate professor of English and Gender and Women’s Studies at Saint Mary’s College. Her debut novel, The Beheading Game, was published by Crown in 2026.
Support the Folger
Fall Folger Book Club selections are now available online and in-person through the Folger Shop!
Click below to purchase your copy of The Beheading Game online or come visit us at 201 East Capitol St SE during our opening hours.
You can also choose to support your favorite local bookstore through Bookshop.org or Libro.fm.
Related event
Join us later in the evening for a poetry reading celebrating Emily Dickinson.
