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The Book of Margery Kempe: The Autobiography of the Madwoman of God

by Margery Kempe , Tony D. Triggs (Translator)

3.24 of 5 stars 3.24 · rating details · 1,993 ratings · 118 reviews

Because Margery Kempe was illiterate, her book was dictated to two scribes, showing an extraordinary recall of outer events and of her inner life over 40 years. Most of the manuscript disappeared, reappearing in 1934. Since then, two translations have been published. This book puts Margery's Middle English into fully comprehensible English. Margery was born in Kings Lynn a ...more

Paperback , 219 pages

Published November 1st 1995 by Liguori Publications (first published 1438)

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Nov 06, 2014 Miriam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval

My then-roommate and I had a class together in which we read this book. When a stray cat turned up at our house and insisted on moving in with us, we named her Margery because she whined so much.

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Sep 18, 2009 Madeline rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: assigned-reading , ugh

After having to read this for my Lit class, and reading a book by St. Theresa of Avila two years ago for a history class, I have come to the following conclusion:

Female mystics are the single most boring, long-winded people on the planet.

Margery Kempe's life had all the potential to be a well-made, expensive, but ultimately poorly received religious film from the Mel Gibson canon. She had visions, was psychic, and spent most of her adult life traveling across Europe and the Middle East while re ...more

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Aug 12, 2007 John Wiswell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: History readers, theology readers, classics readers, readers interested in biography

One of the oldest autobiographies in the English language, should you choose to believe the illiterate Margery Kempe truly dictated it, is bitterly funny today. Kempe recounts her marriage, failures in business, curiously kinky religious visions, and spuriously selfish pilgrimmage. It is at once a window into the biases of a bygone age, and a thinly humorous commentary on the human condition. Was she driven mad by trouble childbirth, lying to get ahead in the world, or truly touched? The Church ...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Lynden Rodriguez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Lynden by: unknown

Shelves: catholic , christian , classic , history , sacred-texts , religion , autobiography , literature , women

This book is notable as being the first autobiography in the English Language. But that's where the debate begins. Margery Kempe was a remarkable woman who would have stood out in any age. As a Carmelite familiar with the mystical life, I find that Margery Kempe is authentic. Although there are many who would argue that. That is because they are unfamiliar with the contemplative and meditative life. And I must admit that Margery had her share of gifts. She had an extraordinary sense of prayer an ...more

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Sep 12, 2010 Marie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frequent repetition (mostly of "Oh how wonderful god is. Let me repeat the story of the crucifixion in gory detail one more time") dropped this down from three to two stars. I actually enjoyed this far more than I thought I would as an atheist reading a Christian mystic's account of her religious life.

What I most liked where the rare and occasional glimpses of 15th century life - travails with lice and travel plans, the occasional decrying of fashion. Margery is feisty indeed, though I mostly ch ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Melanie Spiller rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval-history

What a hoot this book is! Margery Kempe was a real person, someone who, after having a bunch of children and many years of marriage, decided that she wanted to be a nun. So she traveled to Rome (from England) to get a papal annulment, and discovered that she enjoyed traveling so much that she went on Jerusalem. Her adventures are told with a certain tongue-in-cheek and also some self-righteous indignation that are both edifying and hilarious. Even hearing only her side of things, the reader is g ...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Andrew rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-theology

There is a really interesting story tied to this book, but sadly no interesting book tied to the story. Fans of Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena and other medieval women writers on spirituality will in my opinion find this quite lacking. Yes, Margery has a very strong feeling of devotion, but this is quite questionably devotional. Granted it's impossible to tell how accurate Margery of Kempe's self-assessment is, but the way it reads to me, this is the work of an egomanical and very vindict ...more

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Jan 28, 2015 James Cardona rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've gone into a bout of reading the histories of mystics (also called contemplatives - some might argue that these are present day charismatics) and since I consider myself one, I've found these works very engaging. I could see where someone who has no interest in such things as trying to make a real spiritual connection with God would find such an autobiography as boring or irritating, but for me it came across as enlightening because Margery was so common and not painted as a saint to be vene I've gone into a bout of reading the histories of mystics (also called contemplatives - some might argue that these are present day charismatics) and since I consider myself one, I've found these works very engaging. I could see where someone who has no interest in such things as trying to make a real spiritual connection with God would find such an autobiography as boring or irritating, but for me it came across as enlightening because Margery was so common and not painted as a saint to be venerated or imitated. It is in her commonness and her bumpy road to seek spiritual experience that I can so identify with.

Margery did a lot of things that a present day seeker would say is wrong and she believed in things that are not doctrinally sound, but yet she gave it her all the best way she knew how. Whether or not the experiences she described are authentic or the ravings of a woman who has lost touch is arguable. I tend to think there is a mixture of both here.

One of the things fourteenth-century mystics were interested in was achieving contemplation. The idea was that a person who spent long hours in prayer and contemplation (literally meditating on events that took place in the Jesus or Mary's life) could somehow physically experience those events as if they were happening to him or her. A person who achieved contemplation might feel Christ’s suffering, becoming one with Him in His passion, one with His suffering. There were two different ways that people achieved this union. First, a person could become an ascetic, a person who shuns all pleasure and endures some physical hardships, even at times beating, whipping, or hitting his or her body. This was a union with Jesus’ suffering in a physical way. The second method used to join with Jesus’ suffering was mental or spiritual. This is the method that Margery chose and it is called contemplation.

Contemplation is achieved by initially meditating deeply on Christ’s suffering, His persecution, His cross, and His passion. If a person meditates properly and long enough, he or she would enter into a trance-like state and come to a place of ecstatic union with God. This is called “achieving contemplation” or “mystical union.” In this state, all sorts of supernatural things can happen. A person might receive visions of past Biblical events, visions of future events, or feel what Jesus, Mary, the apostles, or the saints felt at a given time. These visions can come physically, mentally, or spiritually. This was not specific to Margery, but was a well traveled road in the 1300s. Although it sounds foreign to many today, it was well known in her time and by pursuing this path, she wouldn't have seemed odd or out of place, but merely devout.

Probably the greatest difference between Margery and the other mystics I have read about in the 1300s and 1400s is her behavior upon receiving her experiences. Her reactions were so foreign to what was expected in her day that I tend to think that this was the reason she was rejected and ostracized, while people like St. Bridget and Julian of Norwich were celebrated. Margery had highly emotional experiences and showed dramatic public displays of her experiences, often crying and making a public spectacle of herself in a variety of different venues. Margery would wail any place and any time, it might be in the middle of a priest’s sermon or in the middle of a busy fruit market. This was the exact opposite of what her contemporary mystics were doing. The authorities on contemplation such as Richard Rolle or Thomas Kempis wrote that a mystic was to suffer in silence and that a passionate person might not be able to achieve contemplation at all.

Many people disrespected and shunned Margery because of her tremendous weeping. Women in the fourteenth-century behaved themselves in public. Certainly God would not cause a woman to misbehave! Much of the public could not understand her behavior as anything but farce. Some of the clergy would not preach in her presence, because she would invariably become loud and disruptive. Margery would come right out in the community, in the church, in the market, and in the roadways and wail and cry while she experienced the mystical union of the suffering of Christ’s passion. In fact, Margery felt that being treated badly by the public was another way of feeling suffering and that the public’s bad treatment might increase her chances of becoming one with Christ.

In the end, the book is an autobiography of her life and specifically her attempts at achieving contemplation, that is, the mystical union with Christ. After reading Rolle, Kempis, Julian of Norwich and St. Bridget's writings and biographies, I suspect that Margery never truly achieved her goal, but the road there was an interesting and insightful one that someone who can appreciate spiritual connection might enjoy reading about. ...more

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Feb 15, 2014 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval-lit

I had to read this one over the course of six months because I found Margery so irritating, not unlike many of her contemporaries I noticed. This book almost seems like an apology of her life "written" by Margery herself...well, dictated since she was not literate. However, it was interesting to read her encounters with the local population. So while Margery remains the star of the show, the reader will nevertheless meet a lot of 14th and 15th century persons in all their surprising normality. O ...more

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Jul 11, 2015 Tony Gualtieri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Margery Kempe is a fascinating personality, both for her unpretentious mysticism and for the psychological anxiety that her intense spirituality caused her. In her book, she is candid about her struggles with clerical hypocrisy, with sexuality, and with the negative reactions of others to the outward expressions of her visions (she seems to have spent an inordinate amount of time weeping and loudly crying out, manifestations of her grief at the sufferings of Christ's Passion). But for all the tu ...more

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May 01, 2014 Harry Allagree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a fascinating read, though in some ways a bit tedious. I was motivated to read The Book of Margery Kempe since, as an Oblate of the Order of Julian of Norwich, I knew that Margery had at one time visited Julian and I was curious about her recollection of the event. Also, I had always had the impression that Margery was a bit "coo coo", and wanted to decide for myself. Good thing, because, having read her recollections, I'm quite convinced that she was not only a mystic, but a deeply aut This was a fascinating read, though in some ways a bit tedious. I was motivated to read The Book of Margery Kempe since, as an Oblate of the Order of Julian of Norwich, I knew that Margery had at one time visited Julian and I was curious about her recollection of the event. Also, I had always had the impression that Margery was a bit "coo coo", and wanted to decide for myself. Good thing, because, having read her recollections, I'm quite convinced that she was not only a mystic, but a deeply authentic one, despite her eccentricities and somewhat unusual manner of, shall we say, "evangelizing". Her life would probably make a good movie: born c. 1373, her father, John Burnham, was a 5-time mayor of (King's) Lynn. She married John Kempe, a town burgess; was the mother of 14 children (!), only one of whom is mentioned in the book (who didn't particularly like her, but later "converted" before he died. She ran a brewery business for a short time, then a corn milling operation. Despite not being wealthy, she managed through her 60+ years to always find a way to come up with provisions: money, food, clothing, ship's passage, traveling companions, etc. And travel she did -- to the Holy Land, Rome, Germany, to many English shrines & churches, etc..

Margery had the God-given gift of tears, & not only the gift, but that gift in overflowing abandance! People thought she was faking it most of the time, though it's clear from her account that God was running the show behind the scenes. I don't think Margery would've intentionally given herself to the kind of wailing & sobbing she did just for fun. She took a LOT of flak: from everyone from archbishops down to the woman/man on the street -- everywhere she went! Gail McMurray Gibson, in an article towards the end of the book, pinpoints, in my opinion, what's really going on here. She says: "It would be far more accurate…to say that Margery Kempe of Lynn possessed an unswerving sense of devotional theater and that she embraced her martyrdoms deliberately and self-consciously." No question that Margery was a bit of a "drama queen" -- but a truly "holy drama queen". Because of this her reputation was widespread, not only in England, but overseas also. Some people accepted her, even idolized her; others found her off-putting, if not disgusting.

But, though hauled in as a potential heretic many, many times, she always passed the inquisition of the Archbishop of Canterbury, other bishops, countless clergy (all men, of course!), and most of her confessors. If you follow her "dalliances" (i.e., conversations) with Christ throughout her book, you can hardly help but be impressed by her sincerity, honesty, deep spirituality, humility, and, above all, her faith. The section in Book Two which records her accustomed daily prayers (about 3 1/2 pages worth!) are really inspiring, both in their simplicity & in their scope. She prays to the Trinity, to Mary, to the Saints, to the Apostles, to the Holy Spirit. She confesses & asks pardon. She acknowledges the gift of tears. She prays for her confessors, the Church, civil leaders, non-Christians, those without faith, heretics, non-believers, sinners, those tempted. She prays for her family, her fellow-Christians, the sick and needy. She intercedes for her detractors, for the souls in Purgatory, for the well & woe in her life. She prays very specifically for nature & all creatures. And finally she remembers the dead. I think it's quite safe to say that, for all her drama & stepping outside the box, this woman really lived what she professed to believe -- and, I might say, enjoyed doing so! ...more

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Jun 06, 2008 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though I've never been a fan of autobiographies, I must admit to having enjoyed this book a little bit. I'll give it some respect considering the fact that it is one of the first autobiographies written in "English", though I couldn't help but be amused by Margery and her outlandish ways. I lost tack of all the things that made her weep....

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Jun 24, 2015 Resa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While I'd normally give any book that left me clamoring for anything else to do a lower rating than three stars, I do think there's a lot of value in The Book of Margery Kempe as a historical piece showing us just how far women writers have come.

With diaries and letters being some of the only written works deemed acceptable for women to participate in, Kempe didn't have a lot of options with what she was able to write (or dictate, more accurately). So for that, I think she should receive some c ...more

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Jun 05, 2014 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

I guess my rating is about my opinion of Margery Kempe...I can appreciate her passion, but I agree with the description of "Madwoman"...as I believe she teetered on madness. Serving God can appear at times as "crazy"...just look at Noah, John the Baptist, and others...However, some of her choices don't appear to line up with God's word, such as "abstinence" with her husband is against the New Testament. Anyway, whether Margery was mad or not, I do not know, but for certain, her book drove me &am ...more

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Apr 27, 2014 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical , pleasure

The fact that she is referred to throughout as "this creature" is sad at one level, but it shows the lack of respect for women in the early to mid 1400s. She takes a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. Her mystical visions are interesting. The text reminds me in many ways of the work of Bede who wrote nearly seven centuries earlier. Her desire to wear white and be a chaste widow, while still married and having had 14 children seems somewhat at odds.
This is supposed to be the first English lan ...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Jessi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autobiography , christian , history , non-fiction , supernatural

I truly and honestly believed that I was going to enjoy this book after reading the first 70-some pages but as the book continued I wasn't too impressed mostly because it seemed to be a repeat of situations just at different places and different people. However, while I may not have enjoyed the book, it is the woman behind the book that impressed me the most. I grew up in a Catholic home and went to Catholic school and I had never once heard the name Margery Kempe and until this book was assigne ...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Tisha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult , biography , historical , non-fiction

I was inspired to read this after thoroughly enjoying The Book of the Maidservant, by Rebecca Barnhouse. It was hard to believe that the maidservant's mistress, Margery Kempe, was so ridiculous, but I see after reading her first-person account, that Margery Kempe was indeed a ridiculous woman. This is believed to be the first English autobiography, written during the 15th century, lost for many years, then found in the early 1900's. Margery Kempe would be an excellent tragic heroine of her own s ...more

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Jul 20, 2008 Ariel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comps , school

I'm guessing this book is on my grad school reading list because, written in 1436, it's the first known autobiography in the English language. I'm curious why it's call an "autobiography" because it seems more of a collaboration between the illiterate Margery Kempe, her first half-illiterate scribe, the priest who finally made the text readable, and then finally the scholars who translated The Book of Margery Kempe from middle English.

Okay, so I feel like I'm being dismissive by giving this boo I'm guessing this book is on my grad school reading list because, written in 1436, it's the first known autobiography in the English language. I'm curious why it's call an "autobiography" because it seems more of a collaboration between the illiterate Margery Kempe, her first half-illiterate scribe, the priest who finally made the text readable, and then finally the scholars who translated The Book of Margery Kempe from middle English.

Okay, so I feel like I'm being dismissive by giving this book two stars--what do I expect? I'm a postmodern kid and want to be entertained by my Great Literature. If you can call this book that. Kempe takes a vow of celebacy and cries her way across Europe and the Middle East to tell people about her conversations with God .

Cool points: she started a business and travels without her husband and admits she considered having an affair. But then she is always beating herself up for how sinful she is. Plus she's pretty darn classist and gets all pissy at her servants for not following her unquestioningly to the ends of the earth. I think focusing on what I found cool about this book--points highlighted on the flap-copy summary--is trying too hard to "rescue it" for what a contemporary reader finds admirable in female narrators.

Don't read this book too literally. I don't buy the whole having fourteen children. That doesn't add up, especially if she had to wait until the last one was grown to travel.

If I had to write a paper on this book, I'd probably focus on the construction of sanity vs. madness. Who decided Kempe was a madwoman? If it allows her to be close to Jesus, is that really such a bad label? ...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Dana rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, let's start with the good things first. This was the first autobiography practically and it is by a woman. A woman who got to do things not a lot of other medieval women got to do. That's where the good ends however.

Unfortunately, the story of Margery Kempe, while it could be extremely interesting, is actually more irritating. This woman was crazy. Hands down, batshit, insane. Anyone that not only talks to a entity before them, but claims it's Jesus, and then has visions about her being at t So, let's start with the good things first. This was the first autobiography practically and it is by a woman. A woman who got to do things not a lot of other medieval women got to do. That's where the good ends however.

Unfortunately, the story of Margery Kempe, while it could be extremely interesting, is actually more irritating. This woman was crazy. Hands down, batshit, insane. Anyone that not only talks to a entity before them, but claims it's Jesus, and then has visions about her being at the birth of Christ and being the one to swaddle baby Jesus, has issues. She later goes on to insinuate she would also like to "lie" with Jesus as well and Jesus is pretty okay with that... because you know, Jesus talks to her. Physically.

The women obviously had some mental health issues and I'm not condemning her for them. What does irritate me however is the fact that she spends the entire book waving around a flag saying "Look how pious I am". I feel like this defeats the purpose of what she is trying to do. I also find it interesting that any time she wants to justify something, she hides behind religion. It's okay for her to be the way she is and act the way she does, and also lecture and preach to others, because Jesus gave her the rubber stamp of approval. Overall, Margery Kempe is not a religious figure to look up to and instead is a self centered, self serving, medieval woman who used religion to gain fame. Sadly, I think she, if she ever realized this, would have hated herself for it.

Now, all in all, based on what I said above, that might even make the story a good read. However, the text is dry and self righteous and while I'm sure there are people out there who would like this novel, I found myself ranging between bored, and angry that this woman was our first example of a female autobiographer (although she didn't write it herself. She dictated it to a man). I wouldn't suggest picking up this book. If you're curious, there are plenty of things to read about her on the internet and I can almost guarantee you'll get more out of that, then this text here. ...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Maha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here we have a woman named Margery Kempe living during the late Middle Ages in England who seemed to believe that she was a saint. To this purpose, she dictates her story to a scribe – but it is not an autobiography – it is something along the lines of a saint’s life. I would also describe the text as being a romance between Margery and Christ. Margery basically kicks her husband to the curb and exchanges him for Christ who is presented as a sort of possessive boyfriend who alienates her through Here we have a woman named Margery Kempe living during the late Middle Ages in England who seemed to believe that she was a saint. To this purpose, she dictates her story to a scribe – but it is not an autobiography – it is something along the lines of a saint’s life. I would also describe the text as being a romance between Margery and Christ. Margery basically kicks her husband to the curb and exchanges him for Christ who is presented as a sort of possessive boyfriend who alienates her through his desires on her life and wants to make her suffer so she realizes that nobody loves her more than him and she has nobody else to turn to. Margery’s pretensions are not lost on the members of her community, most of whom make her life miserable and question her sanctity. The book is a repeat of these kinds of episodes and themes:

1. How other people can’t stand her guts because of her holier than thou attitude.
2. All of her visits to ecclesiastic authorities so she can authenticate her spiritual visions and experiences. Of course, she thinks that anyone who does think her visions don’t have a Divine source is wrong anyways, so….hmph
3. Her visions and meditations, which include her helping give birth to Christ and all other sorts of affective daydreams and fantasies.
4. Her love affair with Christ. Chapter 36 is VERY interesting and kind of sick. If you read it first without reading anything else, you would think the book is about a twisted case of incest. Margery has a tendency to literalize the idea of herself being Christ’s bride.
5. Margery’s pilgrimages and how everybody always ditches her because she gets on their last nerve.
6. How Margery is given knowledge of events, like when a storm is coming or if someone’s spouse is stuck in purgatory.
7. How she keeps being mistaken for a Lollard.

But mostly, it’s about WEEPING, WEEPING, and MORE WEEPING/SHRIEKING.

Anyways, for a book about a mother infatuated with Christ who daydreams about helping giving birth to him and raising him, she surprisingly makes little mention of her own 14 children. Her omissions are just as interesting as what she actually includes. At the end she brings up one of her sons and that’s it. All of her maternal instincts seem to be focused on Christ alone. And don’t even get me started on what she gets her husband to agree to and how she treats him when he is down on his luck.

I had a blast reading this book and I would recommend. Margery a saint? Probably not. But, she seemed like a cool person. My favorite thing was that she had nice things to say about Arabs and Jews in comparison to other writers of the time who were extremely anti-Semitic. I really respect her for that. As a non-Christian, she gave me a good lesson on affective piety. The way she explains it, Christ’s death should be so living and real and like the loss of a best friend, so of course every time he is mentioned there is cause to be upset. I’ve read many books in my life, but by far this one has to be the most bizarre because it constantly defied my expectations. Please check it out. By the way, there is a fun introduction that captures the sense of excitement around the discovery of this text and the translation is very easy to read.
...more

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Dec 15, 2013 Ichorica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Wrap up: Honestly, don't let her wowing over God get in your way of reading this, because then you're totally missing the point.
Would I read this book again? No. Did I think it was good? Yes. It's strange situation isn't it? I suppose the only time I will ever come to face with this text again is through the world of academia. And in that context, I don't think I would mind analyzing and writing about her book once more.
If you are of Christian faith or you are simply interested in this sort of ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 Lissa added it · review of another edition

For anyone interested in medieval times, women's contributions to theology, or mysticism, this is a necessary read. I feel I know her. If she had gained sainthood, she may be a patron of post-partum depression and/or psychosis, for she undoubtedly experienced them. But God gave her gifts and a mighty mission and didn't abandon her to the ravages of mental illness. Rather, he used it to teach her and all she encountered.

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Sep 03, 2014 Dawn Roberts rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book for the vivid pictures it painted of life and travels in the 14th century. Margery's life would have been so vastly different had she lived today. For one, she might have been a Pentacostal. For another, she might have been sucessfully treated for mental illness. She might have found comfort in modern reformed theology, where talking to God on an intimate, personal level was encouraged and not thought to be revolutionary. She likely would not have had fourteen children ...more

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Feb 01, 2010 Elena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval

At times Margery reminded me of pentecostals that I've known--very convinced that she has a true revelation from God and that everyone else should hear it. This was especially evident when she mentioned a few times that priests and other clergy responded "meekly" to her sobbing and screaming during church.

I also ended up feeling rather sorry for her husband and children (14, though maybe not all alive). She convinced him to agree to a "chaste" marriage and they lived apart until he was in his si ...more

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Sep 29, 2013 Camille Tesch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: well-educated-mind , biography-memoir

This book is considered the first autobiography written in English. Margery Kempe was a Christian mystic in 15th century England. She was a married woman who had 14 children who later convinced her husband to take a vow of chastity, and became a pilgrim, traveling to Jerusalem, mainland Europe, and around England. It was fascinating to read about how she was treated as a married woman trying to live a religious life, and the societal and religious restraints she lived under. Much of her spiritua ...more

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Jan 02, 2015 Susan Bybee rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm giving this first autobiography in English two stars because Margery was a vivid personality with a feverishly detailed imagination(?) She and the Holy Family had some interesting conversations. The other star goes for the all-too-fleeting glimpses of life in the middle ages. Two stars = two aspirin, which I intend to take right now. Ow, my head.

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May 14, 2015 Casey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Margery Kempe was a fascinating, yet frustrating woman. This book details her spiritual journey during a tumultuous time in medieval history. Her story is interesting because it gives an insightful look into the life of religious women during this time. However, I could have done without all her wailing.

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Apr 13, 2009 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am enjoying this book (I'm not reading the edition pictured here, but an older one). Margery Kempe lived from the late 1300's to the mid 1400's or thereabouts. She was from a comfortable, but not wealthy, middle class family, married, had 14 children, then decided to live a chaste life as a religious pilgrim. She traveled to the Holy Land (as did I) and Rome (ditto) and Santiago de Compostella (next on my list). She did remarkable things for her era and her religious stigmata (for lack of a be ...more

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Aug 03, 2008 Duntay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's probably a bit unfair to give this only two stars as it is very much of its era and closely follows the form of 'Saints Lives' type books . It isn't meant to be a tightly plotted literary masterpiece, it does not even unfold chronologically. Though I sometimes enjoyed the (unintentional) wry humour of some of it, on the whole I felt a bit manipulated by Margery. I would most definitely come down on the 'madness' side of any argument, but have a sneaking suspicion that may be exactly what Ma ...more

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Oct 10, 2014 Rachel Calvert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you are interested in...

Mysticism
Medieval literature
Medieval history
Religious studies
Autobiography
Authorship
Gender
Weeping
Crime and discipline
Bad girls gone good
Semi-erotic religious experiences

...then you will heart this. If you think this is boring then get out. #TeamMargery

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About Margery Kempe

Short Biography profile and facts about the life of Margery Kempe
The following biography information provides basic facts and information about the life and history of Margery Kempe a famous Medieval character of the Middle Ages:

Nationality: English

Lifespan: 1373 - c1438

Time Reference: Lived during the reign of the English Kings; Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV

Date of Birth: She was born Marge ...more

More about Margery Kempe...

Books by Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe: Abridged Translation, Introduction, Notes

The Mirror of Love: Readings With Margery Kempe

The Book of Margery Kempe (SparkNotes Literature Guide) [Nook Book]

The Cell of Self Knowledge: Early English Mystical Treatises

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The Book of Margery Kempe: The Autobiography of the Madwoman of God

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