The Life and Times of Margery Kempe
Congratulation’s to Elizabeth MacDonald. It’s not often that Fox News features an aspiring saint! But that’s exactly what happened when Neil Cavuto interviewed Elizabeth about her new book, Skirting Heresy: The Life and Times of Margery Kempe.
“Elizabeth MacDonald likely would hate being compared to a saint, but her writing here proves once again, her own inherent goodness. Few journalists reach such an understanding in life. Quite a book. Quite a subject. Quite an author.” — Neil Cavuto, host of Cavuto and Your World With Neil Cavuto
Elizabeth asked that I edit chapters for submission to potential publishers and help prepare an effective proposal. With the assistance of literary agent Karen Gantz, she obtained a contract with Franciscan Media. Her book was published to great acclaim and countless 5-star reviews.
“Joyce, I love that you’re so open to the universe. It’s wonderful and refreshing.” – Elizabeth MacDonald, Stocks Editor, Fox Business News
As Elizabeth described her, “Margery is a riddle. In her era, she yearned for a cult following as all medieval saints had, but now she has a cult of academics around the world who are trying to figure out the enigma that is Margery. A woman with deep ambition to be a saint but is so obstreperous, so vehemently egotistical, she is chased out of town after town.
“A household saint in a minor key with the lungs of an opera diva. She saves her own life by not backing down as a meek housewife, but she stands up and vehemently chastises all to be better Christians.
“Margery Kempe, one of the most controversial Christian mystics of all time and best known for dictating what is recognized as the first autobiography in the English language. Margery would later swear—and her confessors would concur—that Jesus, Mary, the Holy Family, Sts. Paul and Jerome spoke to her, as did Lucifer.
“Margery was arrested and put on trial numerous times, and faced being burnt alive at the stake as a heretic by the very same men who helped see to it that Joan of Arc captured, tried and burnt to death at Rouen.”
We wish Elizabeth MacDonald great success on her new work.