Inventing Margery Kempe — Rebecca A. Engel

She'd grown up knowing her purpose in life was to make a marriage that would advance her family's status. That would not be difficult, for she had the attributes needed: a generous dowry, beauty, charm, and intelligence enough to run a household of any size.

Until the darkness came and changed everything.

Her father was willing to lock her away in the hope rest and isolation would cure her problem, and a favorable marriage could be procured. Hidden in the attic, she begins the adventure of her life by creating the story of a woman of unusual nature and spirit who could have the adventures she was being denied.

Set in the late Middle Ages, a sometimes cruel time that heralded the advent of modern society, Inventing Margery Kempe is speculative fiction about the writing of The Book of Margery Kempe (see note below), with an unnamed narrator a la Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

Note bene: The Book of Margery Kempe is the first known autobiography written in the vulgar (English rather than the academician's Latin). No prior knowledge of The Book of Margery Kempe is needed for the enjoyment of reading Inventing Margery Kempe.

For further information about Margery Kempe, see the Author's Note at the conclusion of the book.