The Gates Ajar

The Gates Ajar by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

The Gates Ajar is an 1868 novel that was immensely popular following its publication soon after the American Civil War where so many men had been killed. In diary format, it tells the story of Mary Cabot, who is mourning the death of her brother Royal who was shot dead in the war. Their parents are deceased, and Mary is unable to find sympathy and relief from anyone. She is on the verge of losing her religious faith and giving in to despair when her widowed aunt Winifred Forceythe fortuitously arrives from Kansas with her daughter Faith. Through their conversations, recorded in Mary's journal Winifred offers an inspiring image of heaven that gradually restores her niece's faith. I have wanted to read this novel for a long time since I first heard of it and have finally found the time. The image of the afterlife portrayed in the novel is based upon selected readings of Christian sources, and appears very comforting to those in the novel. However, that is not the important part of the work for me. It is a wonderful story of two women bonding together to help each other through difficult times.