Roe, a Presbyterian minister from New York, was inspired to write Barriers Burned Away after news of the Great Chicago Fire spurred him to visit the remains of the city. He set the book against the backdrop of the encroaching fire, making the novel a fascinating portrait of an era of Chicago that was literally burned to cinders. The book went on to become the bestselling book of 1872, and with its high moral air and sermon-like prose played no small part in breaking down the prejudice against fiction novels that was common in Christian communities of the day.
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