Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1844-), an American poet and novelist. She was the daughter of Austin Phelps and was married in 1888 to Herbert D. Ward. Her first work was The Gates Ajar, published in 1868. It attracted wide attention, and is believed to have had considerable influence on the prevailing views concerning the future life. It was followed some years later by Beyond the Gates and The Gates Between. Other writings are Men, Women, and Ghosts, The Story of Avis, Hedged In, and Songs of the Silent World. Mrs. Ward's style is original, vigorous, and usually impressive. She has something to say and says it well, although at times her writing is more intense and highly wrought than her subject seems to require.