The historical repercussions of a horrific crime reverberate through the centuries as the 12th century ghosts seek redemption and revenge, with no thought for anyone unlucky enough to get in their way.
1170, Canterbury Cathedral.
Four knights break sanctuary to brutally murder Archbishop Thomas Becket for their king, Henry II.
Running from their crime, the four knights – Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald FitzUrse and Richard le Brett – flee north to Knaresborough Castle where Morville is overlord. Initially celebrating ridding their king of the pest that Becket had become, they find themselves increasingly isolated as the Church and public opinion turn against them.
2015, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
August is feva time – a celebration and festival of the arts. The Castle Players are to perform a play of their own creation: Knight of Betrayal, based on the events leading up to Becket’s murder.
Taking the honour very seriously, they work very hard to get into character – but after they experiment with a spirit board, are they channelling more than just the characters of the knights they are portraying?
As the group of friends begins to disintegrate, concern becomes certainty – this is one opening night that will never be forgotten as life in the small Yorkshire market town of Knaresborough tumbles into horror.
A revisionist new biography reintroducing readers to one of the most subversive figures in English history—the man who sought to reform a nation, dared to defy his king, and laid down his life to defend his sacred honor
A Bittersweet Tale of Love, Loss, and the Power of Royalty
A medieval historical novel about William Marshal, probably the greatest knight of the Middle Ages. This is the story of how he rose through the dangerous world of Angevin politics to become one of the most powerful magnates of the realm and eventually regent of England.
In this novel, Sharon Kay Penman brings to life a dark period in English history, painting a canvas rich in the textures and colors of the era. Here is the pain and suffering of the innocents, the conniving and duplicity of the barons; here is the terrible reality of lawlessness – the burning towns, ravaged countryside, weary people. But above all, here are two extraordinary adversaries: A woman whose courage outran her common sense, who found that her skirts bound her more tightly than any rope. And a man of inordinate charm, as valiant in battle as he was able in friendship – but a man whose life was based on a broken oath and a treacherous lie, tragic flaws that would destroy him. Beginning as friends, they ended in the bitterest enmity, their bloodiest wounds self-inflicted. And if Stephen lost the crown, Maude would never wear it. But in a final irony for both, Maude would indeed be the mother of kings, for it was her eldest, Henry, who would establish the Plantagenet dynasty and, with Eleanor of Aquitaine, electrify the medieval world.
