Books by Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother, and mystic. The earliest autobiography in English, It describes Kempe's transformation from businesswoman to pilgrim, her visions, hostile encounters with clergy and travels to holy sites abroad. This new translation provides full introduction and notes.

The text presented here remains as faithful to the original Middle English as possible, without sounding archaic.

The story of the eventful and controversial life of Margery Kempe - wife, mother, businesswoman, pilgrim and visionary - is the earliest surviving autobiography in English. Here Kempe (c.1373-c.1440) recounts in vivid, unembarrassed detail the madness that followed the birth of the first of her fourteen children, the failure of her brewery business, her dramatic call to the spiritual life, her visions and uncontrollable tears, the struggle to convert her husband to a vow of chastity and her pilgrimages to Europe and the Holy Land. Margery Kempe could not read or write, and dictated her remarkable story late in life. It remains an extraordinary record of human faith and a portrait of a medieval woman of unforgettable character and courage.