How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
The book was so ill-written that he could make little sense of it, for it was neither good English nor German, nor were the letters shaped or formed as other letters are. (I.Proem.35)
The story of Kempe's spiritual journey was almost lost because her first scribe apparently didn't pay attention in English or penmanship classes. This means that illiteracy packs a double whammy for women, historically: they had to rely on the good will of men to write their stories—and they had to trust these men to actually have the skills to write properly.
Quote #2
Great was the holy conversation that the anchoress and this creature had through talking of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for the many days that they were together. (I.18.78-79)
Kempe meets the great female mystic Julian of Norwich and feels the benefit immediately. She feels vindicated in her conversations with a holy woman who has isolated herself for the love of God, and no doubt she experiences kinship and camaraderie with Julian as a woman who is trying to live out a special kind of devotional life in a world full of disapproving men.
Quote #3
Afterwards it happened, as this creature sat at a table with her companions, that she repeated a text of the Gospel which she had learned before with other good word, and then her companions said she had broken her undertaking. And she said, "Yes, sirs, indeed I can no longer keep this agreement with you, for I must speak of my Lord Jesus Christ, though all this world had forbidden me." (I.27.102)
Kempe runs afoul of her travelling companions time and again. Usually, it ends with them dumping her somewhere awkward. In this case, she is told to keep quiet at the dinner table, which is especially difficult for this Chatty Cathy… or should we say Shrieking Sharon? But if there's anything charming about Kempe, it's her inability to care about what other people think of her on most occasions. This is no exception. Her devotion to Christ trumps her promise to keep mum—and there will be no apology.