The Book of Margery Kempe Book II, Chapters 1-5 Summary

Chapter 1

We are told that the first scribe (the one who wrote badly) has died, and that a new scribe has stepped in to add the second book.
Kempe finally gives us a story about one of her fourteen children. This one is a tall young man who goes into the business world.
Kempe's not crazy about her son's chosen profession, and she doesn't like how much he follows fashion and other worldly things.
Kempe encourages her son to dedicate his life to God. They argue.
Kempe lowers the stakes and simply asks her son to remain celibate until he marries—or God will punish him.
The son appeases his mother ("Yeah, Mom, sure, sure..."), but he goes overseas for business and can't resist the women.
Sure enough, the young man breaks out with a horrendous skin condition all over his face. His employer fires him when he returns home, for fear that the young man has contracted leprosy.
Pretty soon, the people in Lynn believe that the young man is suffering because Kempe cursed him. They take a dim view of this.
But the son has no intention of begging for mercy from his mother. That is, until he can't stand the pustules on his face anymore. He confesses to her, and she gives him her blessing.
Kempe spends a long time praying for her son to be healed, and eventually he gets better.
The son then mends his ways, meets a nice German girl, gets married in Prussia, and has a daughter.
Kempe is filled with joy when Jesus tells her in her soul that she will live to see her grandchildren.

This same son comes back to visit his parents after his marriage, and Kempe finds him a changed young man. He is very serious and devout.
Kempe tells her son all about her revelations and way of life, and the son is much impressed. He goes on pilgrimages to Rome to atone for his sins.
When he gets home, the son tells his wife all about his mother's way of life. She wants to meet her mama-in-law very much, so they make the journey (without their child) to Kempe and husband.
Although they get there safely, the son soon becomes ill and never recovers. Kempe tells us that her own husband died soon after.
Now Kempe is left alone with her daughter-in-law, who must return home to the friends who are keeping her child for her.
Kempe tells her confessor that she will accompany her daughter-in-law to the ship so that the young lady doesn't have to go by herself.
On the way, Kempe is told by God to accompany her daughter-in-law overseas, all the way back home. Kempe is not excited by this idea, since she is by now old and lame.
Also, Kempe's pretty sure that her daughter-in-law doesn't want her tagging along—and her confessor hadn't given her permission to travel so far (she'd promised obedience to him).
But God has given Kempe her orders, so she sends her excuses back to Lynn and boards the ship for Prussia.

Kempe and daughter-in-law do not have a pleasant sea voyage. Kempe asks God why he's going back on his promise to keep her safe on the sea. God tells her to chill out and have faith.
After the great storm, Kempe and her daughter-in-law land in Norway, where they celebrate Easter. And yes, Kempe does her crying and sobbing here as well.
Kempe and her daughter-in-law have good weather for the rest of the trip and make it to Germany safely.
Kempe tells us that the master of the ship treats her as his mother and provides her with the clothing and food necessary for the journey.
Kempe hangs out in Danzig for about six weeks, during which time she is welcomed by everyone but her daughter-in-law.
God tells Kempe it's time to leave, but her daughter-in-law will not help her prepare for the journey. Kempe decides to travel by land, because she is so over sea travel.
Problem? There's lots of war going on. When Kempe finally finds someone to escort her, she can't get permission to leave town.
When Kempe finally gets permission to leave, she has to take a side-pilgrimage to Wilsnack to keep the protection of her escort. And she has to get on another boat, anyway.

The road to Wilsnack is perilous because of fighting and lots of armed men roaming about the countryside. On top of it, Kempe's escort really wants to ditch her.
God tells Kempe to calm down: he promised her safety, so she should have more faith.
But Kempe weeps anyway, and her escort is not amused.
Kempe's major enemy is old age; she's about sixty at this point. She can't keep pace with her younger escort. She quickly becomes ill and can hardly keep up.
Kempe and her escort make it to Wilsnack in a wagon and pay their respects at the shrine.