The Gates Ajar

Gates Ajar, The,
novel by Elizabeth Ward, published (1868) under her maiden name, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.

A New England girl, Mary Cabot, is overcome by grief at the death of her brother Royal in the Civil War, and remains inconsolable until her aunt, Winifred Forceythe, comes to visit her, accompanied by her daughter Faith. Mary finds comfort in the little girl, and a great source of solace in the series of long conversations with her aunt, which she records in her journal. Slowly her aunt persuades her of the validity of a future life in which she will meet Royal, and presents convincingly her conception of Heaven.