The Book of the Maidservant
As a servant girl to Dame Margery Kempe, the renowned medieval holy woman, Johanna already has a pretty rough life. She has to accompany her mistress on a pilgrimage to Rome, and each evening, after walking all day, Johanna must fetch water, wash clothes, and cook for all the pilgrims in their party. Dame Margery is difficult to work for, but things get a lot worse when she gets into an argument with the others, and abandons the group, including Johanna. On her own in a foreign country where she doesn’t even speak the language, does Johanna have what it takes to complete her own pilgrimage to Rome? Even though Johanna’s life is vastly different than that of a modern day teen, how she responds to the challenges facing her makes for a fascinating character study.
