Madrid, 1616. Fray Juan de la Cruz - renowned poet and mystic has been dead for twenty-five years.
Fray Martín de Sepúlveda, Dominican friar and former professor at the University of Salamanca is living in obscurity, fortunate to escape the attentions of the Inquisition after a scandal that cost him his job. Now, three years later, he is summoned to Madrid where he receives an unexpected, and highly secret, commission: to investigate the life and work of the long-dead Fray Juan.
When an official from the Inquisition takes an interest in the case, Fray Martín realises that the stakes are higher than he thought possible - and that his own fate hangs in the balance.
Based on the life and turbulent times of one of the greatest of all Spanish writers, the 16th century poet and mystic, San Juan de la Cruz ( St. John of the Cross,) "Canticle" is a vivid recreation of a 400-year-old tale of power struggles, political manoeuvring and misinformation.
As Fray Martín grapples with his investigation into the poet's life and work, he becomes embroiled in a quest to separate fact from fiction, reality from propaganda. He soon learns, like Fray Juan before him that when truth is manipulated to serve the interests of a powerful elite, defiance comes at a high price.