Portrays the conflict of loyalties to church and state as they influenced the lives of two powerful men in English history.

Offers a biography of the man who after being a worldly chancellor for Henry II, became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, defied the wishes of the king, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, and was made a saint in 1173.

When New York City native Becket Branch moves to the country with her family to help run her grandmother's farm and store, she finds that new friends, hostile chickens, sour lemonade and mischief are only the beginnings of her new life.--

Drawing on the full panoply of medieval sources, Guy sheds new light on the relationship between Saint Thomas à Becket and England's greatest medieval king, Henry II, separating truth from centuries of mythmaking, and casting doubt on the long-held assumption that the headstrong rivals were once close friends. He also provides the fullest accounting yet for Becket's seemingly radical transformation from worldly bureaucrat to devout man of God.