kempe, margery

In 1413, a young maidservant accompanies her deeply religious mistress, Dame Margery Kempe, on a pilgrimage to Rome. Includes author's note on Kempe, writer of "The Book of Margery Kempe," considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language.

A novel based on the life of a prominent medieval woman, Dame Margery Kempe, from the perspective of her maid, Johanna. Dame Margery feels little empathy for the hard life of her maid, which only worsens when they begin a pilgrimage to Rome. On the road Dame Margery is in constant conflict with the other pilgrims and finally turns her back on them all, including Johanna. Abandoned in a foreign land, Johanna must find a way to Rome.