
A warm, conversational voice guides listeners through the early days of a writer’s unexpected career, sharing candid reflections on how a chance encounter with the smoldering ruins of Chicago sparked the birth of his first novel. He describes the tentative steps from hesitant drafts to a serialized sensation, inviting the audience into the intimate exchange between author and reader that has sustained his work for a decade. The narration feels like a fireside chat, full of humility, curiosity, and the quiet wonder of seeing a story grow on its own.
Set against the backdrop of the Great Chicago Fire, the tale follows a cast of displaced souls navigating the ash‑filled streets, each searching for a place to call home. Their struggles and small acts of kindness illuminate the resilience of ordinary people confronting loss, while the city itself looms as both a scar and a catalyst for new beginnings. Listeners will be drawn into a vivid portrait of survival, hope, and the lingering question of where true belonging resides.
Language
en
Duration
~16 hours (970K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2004-04-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1838–1888
Best known for blending warmhearted fiction with practical advice about country life, this 19th-century American writer reached a wide audience with novels that were both moral and deeply readable. Before turning fully to literature, he also served as a Presbyterian minister and a Civil War chaplain.
View all books
by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe

by Edward Payson Roe