I don't think Catherine Howard had a death wish but I don't think she was the brightest crayon in the box either.  She was young and naive and until the time she went to court to serve Anne of Cleves would've had no knowledge of just how treacherous a place the court really was.  She certainly wasn't brought up to be Queen; didn't receive nearly the same level of education of Henry's other wives and until the time she caught his eye was a complete nobody.  But she was used and manipulated by members of her own family, by those who should've protected her, and perhaps for that alone she deserves our sympathy.

As for her affair with Thomas Culpepper, stupid in the extreme, but she was young and giddy and possibly thought getting caught was only something that happened to other people, not her.  The teenage mind can be funny like that!

I really want to read the King's Rose, I've not read that much historical fiction about Catherine Howard, and I've heard of another book, The Queens Mistake, I think its called.  Gah, so many Tudor books, so little time!!!!