The Gates Ajar or Our Loved Ones in Heaven

Description

The Gates Ajar is a religious novel by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (later Elizabeth Phelps Ward) that was immensely popular following its publication and was the second best-selling religious novel of the 19th century. The novel is presented like a diary by its main protagonist, Mary Cabot, who mourns the death of her brother Royal. Much of the plot is presented as a dialogue about the afterlife between the two characters. The novel represents heaven as being similar to Earth, but better. In contrast with traditions of Calvinism, Phelps's version of heaven is corporeal where the dead have "spiritual bodies", live in houses, raise families, and participate in various activities.

First Sentence

ONE week; only one week to-day, this twenty-first of February.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The Gates Ajar or Our Loved Ones in HeavenPaperbackKessinger Publishing2005-01-31
• The gates ajar.Houghton1868-01-01
• The gates ajarMicroformE.A. Taylor1869-01-01
• The gates ajarMicroformFields, Osgood1869-01-01
• The gates ajarElectronic resourceFields, Osgood, & Co.1869-01-01
• The gates ajar.J. R. Osgood and company1873-01-01