For Medievalists, especially lady Medievalists, the names of Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich have a reverence attached to them. Both Christian mystics in their own time, these women offer us a look at their intellectual and deeply personal spirituality that is not often part of the primary narrative of Medieval history. And while the intellectual lives of women are often overlooked and reserved for niche areas of historical analysis, Kempe and Norwich - like Hildegard von Bingen before them - seem remarkably fresh and relatable even to audiences in the 21st century. More to the point, when both of these historical figures were generated into shadow Twitter accounts (seriously, historical Twitter might be the best Twitter) hardly anyone seemed surprised by what these two women proclaimed in a 140 character count post. And Margery Kempe is an interesting figure to use to tell the story of female mysticism in the Middle Ages because unlike her contemporaries that she has been compared to since her own time, Kempe was not a nun and therefore her story as mystic, madwoman, intellectual is supremely intriguing.

'Revelations' by Mary Sharratt is an absolutely delightful novelization of the life of Margery Kempe and her fateful meeting with Julian of Norwich around 1413. Kempe is an interesting figure and dictated what many consider to be the first autobiography in English in the 1420s which detailed her visions, mystical and religious experiences, as well as her travels and pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, her trial for heresy, and her documented confessions. What Sherratt does is provide readers with a rich contextualization to the life and adventures of Margery Kempe much in the same way that [a:Philippa Gregory|9987|Philippa Gregory|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1560883006p2/9987.jpg] has done with her War of the Roses and Tudor stories. What I supremely appreciate about Sharratt is that she picked a subject that was not motivated by love or ambition, but rather her spirituality and her zest to discover all that God's world had to offer.

These historical fictions are delightful and make the women of the past real for a contemporary audience separate from academia. I would encourage any who enjoyed this book, to seek out [b:The Book of Margery Kempe|22186955|The Book of Margery Kempe|Margery Kempe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400499589l/22186955._SY75_.jpg|296207] and the [b:Revelations of Divine Love|370774|Revelations of Divine Love|Julian of Norwich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420607880l/370774._SY75_.jpg|360743] by Julian of Norwich for themselves.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.