The Book of Margery Kempe is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother and mystic from Norfolk. Having married in c. 1393, given birth to 14 children, and pursued unsuccessful ventures in brewing and milling, Kempe made a vow of chastity and embarked on a life of prayer, penance and pilgrimage. Known as the earliest autobiography in the English language, it contains intimate portraits of people and places, and a remarkable eye for detail, as it traces the transformation of a ‘sinful wretch’ to a holy pilgrim.
