The text begins with a poem explaining why she chose to write the book. Margery wants to talk about her experience and how she sinned and then found God again and how through the things she lost she found God and felt as if he was showing her mercy. She calls her soul a home for Jesus Christ and sometimes she questions whether her visions are from God or the devil and she searches for an answer from clerks and priests. They all tell her that her visions are from God and she should write them down. Margery choses to wait twenty years to have someone write down her experiences for her.
Kempe talks about her struggles in finding someone to help her write her book and while she is helped initially by a German man, she soon finds out that what he wrote was not accurate. She then decides to ask a priest for help and he agrees to do it after a little persuasion from Kempe’s side. But the priest has some troubles as well understanding what the German man wrote and at some point he even loses his vision. Encouraged by Kempe, the priest succeeds in writing the book.
In the introduction, Kempe says that she was filled with pride before she lost everything and God made her more humble. She also suffered because the people around her ridiculed her because of her beliefs and because of how she chose to express them. The reader is also let to know that the priest began his work in the year 1436 and that the events recalled in the book are not in a chronological order.
The first chapter begins with Margery remembering how she got married to a man named John and how she got pregnant almost immediately after her weeding. She has a rough pregnancy and birth and above everything she is tormented by a sin from her past. She talks to a priest to come and hear her confession but instead of making her feel better, Kempe is even more tormented by her sin. Margery falls into a period of physiological instability and she is tormented by demons who tell her to do bad things. At one point, she bits into her hand to stop herself from killing herself and the mark remained on her arm to the day she died.
One night, Jesus Christ appears before her in a dream and talks to her. After that conversation, Margery gets better and she takes over her duties as a wife and mother once more. While her husband is happy to see her well again the servants in the house are not and they do not trust her completely yet.
Despite changing her old ways, Kempe is still prideful and she likes to dress extremely luxurious. Margery’s husband tells her to try spending less but Margery only criticizes him for not earning enough money. She tries to set up a few business of her own but they all fail. Margery realizes that God is punishing her for her excessive pride and those around her notice it to so they stop wanting to work for her. Margery admits her flaws and then she starts to change again.
This time, she hears music coming from the heavens while she is lying in bed with her husband and from that point on, every time she hears music she thinks about heaven. Margery starts to talk excessively about Heaven, angering her neighbors and those around her. She also refuses to be intimate with her husband claiming that it disgusts her. After a few years, John takes a vow of chastity as well. Margery becomes even more religious, punishing herself, fasting, going to church at unusual hours and dressing herself in an undershirt made of hair to symbolize her atonement for her sins.
Things go well for a period of two years but then Margery begins to be tempted by lust. Margery lusts after a man who is not her husband and she is ready to give up the good behavior she had until then only to be with the said man. Margery is however rejected by the man and she is left with a guilty conscience. She also doesn’t understand why God would let her be tempted in such a way.
On Christmas day, Kempe communicates with God again who assures her that she will end up in Heaven but will have to make some changes in her life. Margery will have to give up meat, to devote herself to prayer and contemplation and that she must discuss her revelations with Lynn, and anchorite. Margery goes straight to Lynn after her conversation with Christ and Lynn assures her that she is indeed privileged. Lynn also promises Margery to help her figure out if her revelations are from God or from the devil.
In chapter 6, another conversation between Christ and Margery is described. Kempe is instructed to think about the Virgin Mary. When she does it, Kempe is transported back into the first century where she is a servant to Mary’s mother. Kempe assists at Mary’s birth and then when Mary gets pregnant, Kempe begs her to take her as her servant. Kempe is there when Jesus is born and she remains with the family for some time.
Then Kempe starts crying and asking for her soul to be taken to Heaven so she will not have to see all the suffering that will happen. God however has other plans for her and tells Margery that through her thousands of souls will be saved.
Kempe has another vision with Mary this time who tells her that when her time will come, she will have a special place in heaven at Christ’s feet. Margery is also told to name another person who she would like to save and she mentions her confessor even though he is already saved. Christ promises Margery that he will also save all her children and her husband for her kind nature and for her generosity. Kempe starts traveling all over the country and searching for holly men and places and she is granted the power by God to save other people and to grant them everything she wants. John travels with Margery as well and they go to York where they see a religious play.
While at York, John asks Kempe if someone were to ask her to choose between having sex with her husband and letting him die, what would she do. Kempe responds right away that she would let him die and John is not pleased with her answer. John tells his wife that he has been afraid to touch her even though they have not been intimate in over eight weeks.
After discussing the matter even more, John tells Margery that he agrees to go to the bishop to take a vow of chastity but she must do something else instead: she must continue to sleep in the same bed as him, pay off his debts before she leaves for Jerusalem and she must give up fasting on Fridays. After praying, Kempe agrees with her husband’s conditions and they continue traveling.
During her travels, Margery arrives at a monastery where she is welcomed by everyone with the exception of a monk who decides to test her. The monk tells Margery his sins and asks her whether God will forgive him or not. Margery tells him that she will pray for him and during her prayers, Christ comes before her and reveals the true intentions of the monk and his sins. Margery tells the monk what she found and soon after the monk repents for his sins and changes for the better.
Everywhere she goes there are people who disagree with the way she acts but she doesn’t let herself be discouraged by their words but rather learns from them and grows as a person. Margery even thinks that one day she will become a martyr for her faith and fantasizes about that day but Christ tells her that she will not have to die for her faith.
Margery wants to travel to other holly places but she doesn’t have enough money to do it. Christ then comes to her and assures her that he will make sure that good people will help her reach her goal. Christ also tells Kempe that she will have to wear only white clothes which will make her stand out even more.
Margery and her husband go to the Bishop of Lincoln to let them take a vow of chastity but he sends them to the Archbishop of Canterbury to do that. They go to London where they find the Archbishop and Margery has it done her way. Then, Margery and her husband return to their old home where they find that people have been talking evil things about Margery.
In chapter 17, Margery remembers the birth of her last child. After the birth, Jesus appears before her and tells her to go see the Vicar of St. Stephen and they talk about religious subjects. Margery tells him that she speaks not only with Christ but with the other parts of the Trinity as well and other holly people from the past. After these conversations, Kempe remains affected and her neighbors talk bad things about her because of it.
Richard takes her side and Margery continues to travel and try to find men who believe that her visions are from God. Margery meets William Southfield, another man who has visions, and then another woman named Dame Julian. Back home, Margery’s confessor tells her that she will have to face difficulties on the road to Jerusalem but that she must preserver.
Before going to Jerusalem, Kempe visits a woman and tells her that her husband is in the purgatory and needs her help. The lady refuses to believe Kempe and urges other people to stop believing in her and in what she says. Kempe later finds out that the widow did nothing for the soul of her husband and that the husband remained in the purgatory for 30 years.
The next chapter is another flashback to the time when Margery found that she is pregnant again. Then, she felt desolated thinking that she could have served God better should she been a virgin. But Christ appears before her and assures her that he loves mothers and wives as well and for him it doesn’t matter is a woman is virgin or not as long as she serves him.
In chapter 23, Kempe talks about various revelations she had about what will happen to certain people and how many benefited because they listened to her advice. She is affected by these revelations because she is always shaken when something bad happens to someone she knows. Margery also mentions how her intuition always seemed to be right and how she realized that some men and women are shady. Margery attributed her gift to God once more and claims that without him, she would have not been able to read a person as accurately.
In chapter 26, Margery begins her trip to Jerusalem. She meets all sorts of people on the road and some of them laugh at Margery’s expense and ridicule her because of her faith. Kempe arrives to Germany where she meets a sympathetic English friar who promises to help her. The friar sees how Kempe is treated by her group and criticizes them for being so mean to Margery. Enraged, the group abandons Margery and leave with her maidservant and her money. With the help of the friar and an old man named William Wever, Kempe arrives to Bologna where she meets with the group of people she used to travel before and who are amazed at how fast Kempe arrived at Bologna. Kempe rejoins the group but she restrains herself from talking about God excessively. The group makes it to Venice where they split once more because Kempe is unable to stop talking about God.
Kempe arrives eventually to Jerusalem and she enters the city on a donkey just in the same way Jesus did when he was alive. Margery’s behavior becomes even more erratic and she disturbs those around her. Kempe visits famous churches and then goes the Bethlehem and visits other birthplaces of famous Biblical characters.
When the time comes for Margery to return home, her companions once again refuse to go with her but she finds another man named Richard who accompanies her. Kempe joins a group of Italian devotees who seem to understand her more than the English ones and Margery is happy once more. In Italy, Magery visits numerous Churches where she receives communion and confesses her sins. Some priests see her erratic behavior as a way of attracting the attention of those around her but there are also people who believe she is holy and that he cries and tears are a manifest of her faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit in her. Kempe’s biggest persecutor is an English priest who spreads rumors about Kempe, telling the people that Kempe is possessed by the devil.
In 1414, Kempe has her first conversation with God who proposes that they should be married. Kempe is affected by the news since she believes she will be unable to serve Jesus properly that way. However Margery agrees and God marries in a symbolic way Margery to show his love for her. Jesus tells Kempe that the best way she can serve him is to spend the rest of her life contemplating and listening to him when he speaks with her. For a period of time, Margery is told to stop wearing white clothes and to serve as poor woman as a sign of penance. She also gives all her money to the poor, even the money she loaned from her servant, Richard.
Kempe does not remain without money because almost immediately, she meets with a woman who was so impressed by Margery’s generosity that she gives some money to Kempe. Another generous woman gives her meals on Sundays and in other days of the week and for the rest Kempe begs on the streets. She has thus the opportunity to see how the poor people lived and to experience their generosity.
A priest from England who heard about Kempe decided to help her as well and gave her enough money to return home and to not be forced to beg for food anymore on the streets.
In 1415, Kempe starts her journey back home and despite hearing rumors about thieves and murderers on the roads, Jesus assures Kempe that she and her companions will be fine. When Kempe reaches England, she is told that she has to wear white clothes again. Margery is discouraged by this because she does not have enough money to buy new with clothes but she is helped by a kind English man who gives her the clothes she needs.
Soon after, Kempe gets really sick and she feels as if she will die. She survives her sickness but finds that she and her husband no longer have any money and she is ridiculed even more by the people who think that Margery has epilepsy.
Kempe plans to make another pilgrimage, this time to Santiago de Compostela but she does not have enough money. A benefactor appears however and he pays for her trip so Kempe can begin her pilgrimage. Finding a ship however proves to be difficult as the King sent most of the ships to war. She does find however a ship and manages to reach her destination where she is once more hated and loved in equal parts. She also returns home safely while also reproaching those who she hears cursing.
When Margery reaches Leicester, she is questioned about her strange behavior by the Mayor of Leicester and the mayor wants to jail Kempe. Since there are no holding cells made for women, the jailer has to take Margery to his home and have his wife watch over her. The Steward of Leicester visits Kempe and tries to find some incriminating evidence against her but is unable to so he tries to rape her. The people Kempe associated with are also thrown into jail because of her but they are released after a strange storm falls over the city. After a while, Kempe is let go as well and she doesn’t hold any grudge against the mayor either.
From there, Kempe goes to Leicester Abbey to pray and there she is given a warm welcome by the abbot. A Kempe remains in Leicester until a letter from the bishop arrives telling the mayor that Margery is not a fraud. After that, Margery is free and she goes to York where she says she will remain for fourteen days.
After the fourteen days end, Margery is asked to leave but she refuses so she is asked to go in front of the mayor again. Kempe is asked if she has permission from her husband to be on o pilgrimage and she responds that she has a verbal one while also pointing out that women are not required to have a written document every time they travel from one place to another. Kempe is sent before the Archbishop of York for further examination but she avoids being sent to prison for the time being. Many people ask Kempe to be burnt as a witch and the Archbishop is determined to prove that Kempe is a heretic. Kempe proves that she is not a heretic and is let go. She then decides to return to York where she continues talking about God.
Kempe is arrested once more in Hessle and is locked inside the jailer’s house. People gather outside Kempe’s room to hear her talk while she is kept captive and they even bring her food and water. Kempe is accused of encouraging other women to leave their husbands but it proves to not be true. Kempe is let free once more and is escorted back to Humber.
When Kempe arrives in her hometown she decides to travel to the Archbishop of Canterbury to give her a letter to prove that she is not a heretic so she will be able to live in peace in her town. Kempe gets her letter but it doesn’t make her life easier since she in not liked by the people in her town.
Kempe gets sick home and she suffers for eight years from dysentery. After she gets better, she goes back to church but her behavior becomes once more disruptive so she is asked to leave and to take Communion in a chapel away from the rest of the people.
Because Kempe can’t read, she needs someone to red to her. When the woman who used to read to Kempe died, Margery became worried that she will not be able to hear to someone read to her from the Bible. This doesn’t happen because a new priest moves to her hometown and he reads to her. The priest reads to Kempe for a period of eight years and he is grateful to Margery because he also learned many new things during that time period.
A friar comes to Lynn and Kempe is exited to hear him speak. The friar is waned about Kempe’s behavior but he still ends up shaming Kempe for her crying and screaming and even makes a habit of shaming her during his sermons. People however take Kempe’s side, claiming that she is indeed holy and that she should not be shamed in such a way.
The people from the town want Kempe to leave but she refuses and Christ tells her that she will cry less for a period of time until things calm down and that he will punish the friar when the time is right. Many see this as a sign that the sermons of the friar made Kempe stop crying and think that Margery is afraid of the friar.
Jesus tells Margery that she doesn’t need someone to approve with her way of life because he is the one who has to accept her. He also tells her that not everyone can live in the way she lives and that she must try to understand them as well. Jesus also tells Margery to start eating meat again and stop fasting to save her power for crying and many call her a hypocrite when she changes her behavior.
Other friars and doctors in divinity come to Lynn and try to convince the friar to be more patient with Kempe but he refuses to listen to them. Kempe is forbidden to talk with Master Aleyn for a while but after he falls sick she talks with him once more. Kempe also is given the gift of predicting the future and she also knows intimate detail about the lives of the people in Lynn without them telling her.
Kempe then describes how she feels on holy days and how she feels as if she is with Christ then during his moments of torment. She also sees the suffering of Christ in other people suffering in the town and she sees them as the personification of Jesus. Kempe begins to help the ill and poor in her town and many hail her actions as miracles.
Kempe’s husband falls down and gets seriously injured so Kempe has to take care of him. The people in the town blame Kempe for not taking care of her husband and feel as if she should be hold responsible for his accident. Kempe however hates taking care of her husband since this means that she can’t live as freely as before.
In chapter 87, Kempe tells her readers that she had revelations for 25 years almost without no interruption. She then finishes the first book by admitting that she had to take a break from praying to help the scribe write it. Kempe also admits that she had to face certain difficulties during the writing process and she also mentions the first scribe who tried to write the book but was unsuccessful.
Kempe starts the second book by mentioning one of her sons. Despite warning about the dangers of sins, he chose to disobey his mother and have a promiscuous life while abroad. The son is forced to return home when a strange rash appears all over him. The son confesses his sin to his mother and he is forgiven. The son eventually moves to Prussia where he gets married and has a child of his own.
The son comes with his wife to visit his parents but he gets sick in the road and dies. Kempe’s husband dies as well and Kempe is told to follow her daughter-in-law back to Prussia despite being old and feeble. Their voyage to Germany is not an easy one and when Kempe decides to return back home she has trouble finding an escort because Europe is plagued by wars. Kempe is almost 60 years old when she begins the journey back home and she seems unable to get along with the man she hired for protection. After a long journey, Kempe reaches her home but she has to try once more to mend her relationship with the rest of the people in the town.
Kempe ends her second book with a prayer that she wants to leave as an example for everyone who wants to get closer to God.
