Barriers Burned Away.

by Edward Payson Roe

Reverend Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888) was an American novelist born in Moodna, Orange County, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S. V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he moved to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals. Amongst his novels are: Barriers Burned Away (1872), What Can She Do? (1873), Opening a Chestnut Burr (1874), Success with Small Fruits (1880), A Day of Fate (1880), Without a Home (1881), His Sombre Rivals (1884), A Young Girl's Wooing (1884), An Original Belle (1885), He Fell in Love with His Wife (1886), Driven Back to Eden (1886) The Earth Trembled (1887), Miss Lou (1888), Nature's Serial Story (1889), Taken Alive, and Other Stories (1892), and The Home Acre.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Christian Fiction

472 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

Reverend Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888) was an American novelist born in Moodna, Orange County, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S. V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he moved to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals. Amongst his works are Barriers Burned Away (1872), What Can She Do? (1873), Opening a Chestnut Burr (1874), Near to Nature's Heart (1876), A Face Illumined (1878), Success with Small Fruits (1880), A Day of Fate (1880), Without a Home (1881), An Unexpected Result (1883), His Sombre Rivals (1884), A Young Girl's Wooing (1884), An Original Belle (1885), He Fell in Love with His Wife (1886), Driven Back to Eden (1886) and The Earth Trembled (1887).

Reviews

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just completed a 1901 edition of this 1872 best seller. Roe was an evangelical reverend from New York and this book reads like a sermon. From that standpoint, I disliked it as I disliked Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." However, I can understand why it was appealing in its time. Roe's basic formula, according to Luther Mott, is Christian believer meets unbeliever, tries to convert said unbeliever with little success until disaster comes along and -- I'm paraphrasing -- mission accomplished! In this, Roe's first novel, the Chicago Fire is the disaster that, in the last few chapters of the book, burns all the barriers to the unbeliever's salvation away. What I found most interesting is the attitude concerning work: typical Puritan/Calvinist, anyone who works hard can succeed and one should black boots rather than take charity. I'll grant that this is yet another esoteric offering, but that's all you'll be getting out of me for the next few months yet (until my thesis is completed!).

[aMandalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! It is definately on my mental favorites list. E. P. Roe was a genius author...his witty and in depth writing skills cause one to think while making it clear to understand. Anyone in love with a person they are forbidden to be in a relationship with needs to read this book. It will do wonders. Thankfully there is humor tied into it as well. =)

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Barriers Burned Away by Edward Payson Roe and I loved it. Saying that, there is a pretty good chance that you won't love it, but I like having Jesus mentioned on almost every page, I like thinking about Jesus almost every minute, I feel better when I do. So just to warn you what is coming here is what I know about the author:

Edward Payson Roe was an American novelist, Presbyterian minister, horticulturist and historian. Roe was born in the village of Moodna, now part of New Windsor, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S.V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he removed to Cornwall-on-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War, he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals.

He married Anna Paulina Sands in 1863 and had several children. His daughter Sarah married the Olympic fencer Charles T. Tatham, and daughter Pauline married the landscape painter Henry Charles Lee.

Edward Payson Roe Memorial Park in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York is dedicated to his honor.

Did you notice all those references to his being a minister, chaplain and pastor? If that doesn't bother you you are ready to read the book. As far as I can tell Barriers Burned Away was his first novel. It was written in 1872 and published as a serial in the Evangelist which I assume was a magazine, I've never heard of it before.

In the book we have Dennis Fleet, a Christian who falls in love with the beautiful Christine Ludolph, who not only isn't a Christian but doesn't believe in God at all. This is a big problem. If the book didn't center on Christ, I still would have read it, because of all the other things going on. Dennis must support his mother and sisters, and finds a job at the art gallery owned by Christine's father, Mr. Ludolph. Dennis wants to be an artist, so does Christine, but Christine is cold hearted and doesn't have "feelings" so she can't paint masterpieces, so she uses Dennis, whose every feeling is shown on his face, to paint "feelings". This doesn't end well at all. Another brilliant artist can no longer paint because all he does is drink, not even leaving enough money for his wife and children to buy food. Christine's father is planning on making enough money that they can go to Germany and live as nobility, and finally, not only are the barriers between Dennis and Christine burnt away, but the whole city burns down.

But the book is also filled with Jesus and God and Christianity, and if you don't like that, you probably won't like the book. I loved it and am now reading another one by the same author. Whether you should read this or not I leave up to you. Happy reading.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Barriers Burned Away by Edward Payson Roe and I loved it. Saying that, there is a pretty good chance that you won't love it, but I like having Jesus mentioned on almost every page, I like thinking about Jesus almost every minute, I feel better when I do. So just to warn you what is coming here is what I know about the author:

Edward Payson Roe was an American novelist, Presbyterian minister, horticulturist and historian. Roe was born in the village of Moodna, now part of New Windsor, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S.V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he removed to Cornwall-on-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War, he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals.

He married Anna Paulina Sands in 1863 and had several children. His daughter Sarah married the Olympic fencer Charles T. Tatham, and daughter Pauline married the landscape painter Henry Charles Lee.

Edward Payson Roe Memorial Park in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York is dedicated to his honor.

Did you notice all those references to his being a minister, chaplain and pastor? If that doesn't bother you you are ready to read the book. As far as I can tell Barriers Burned Away was his first novel. It was written in 1872 and published as a serial in the Evangelist which I assume was a magazine, I've never heard of it before.

In the book we have Dennis Fleet, a Christian who falls in love with the beautiful Christine Ludolph, who not only isn't a Christian but doesn't believe in God at all. This is a big problem. If the book didn't center on Christ, I still would have read it, because of all the other things going on. Dennis must support his mother and sisters, and finds a job at the art gallery owned by Christine's father, Mr. Ludolph. Dennis wants to be an artist, so does Christine, but Christine is cold hearted and doesn't have "feelings" so she can't paint masterpieces, so she uses Dennis, whose every feeling is shown on his face, to paint "feelings". This doesn't end well at all. Another brilliant artist can no longer paint because all he does is drink, not even leaving enough money for his wife and children to buy food. Christine's father is planning on making enough money that they can go to Germany and live as nobility, and finally, not only are the barriers between Dennis and Christine burnt away, but the whole city burns down.

But the book is also filled with Jesus and God and Christianity, and if you don't like that, you probably won't like the book. I loved it and am now reading another one by the same author. Whether you should read this or not I leave up to you. Happy reading.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously a book with a religious/spiritual agenda, and the hero was maybe a little too flawless, but it still was a very cute, enjoyable read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

great chicago fire, rich girl , poor boy would have been a ten but too much religion