Without a Home

Edward Payson RoeDec 2015

3.6

Word count: 206K words
Chapters: 52

Summary

Published in 1881, this novel by Roe opens with a preface in which the author notes that the modern opium or morphia habit has a large place in the volume. The story begins with an attractive picture: Martin Jocelyn looks through the open doorway of his parlor, where his lively daughter Belle has invited half a score of her schoolmates to spend the evening, along with a few privileged brothers. The young people are naturally choosing dances that have some of the characteristics of a romp, for they are at an age when motion means enjoyment. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Editor's review

This novel comes from the nineteenth-century American writer Edward Payson Roe, who states plainly in his preface that opium and morphine addiction will occupy an important place in the book—a fairly bold choice of subject for its time. The story opens with a lively family party: the young girl Belle invites schoolmates and her brothers to dance, and the scene is bright and animated, yet this everyday cheer is precisely what lays the groundwork for the shadows to come. Roe's method carries an evident moral concern and awareness of social problems; characters are sharply divided into good and bad, and the plot advances through coincidence and emotional conflict, reading with a strong melodramatic tension. Its value lies not only in the story itself but in preserving the nineteenth-century American understanding of addiction and the habits of discourse around it. For readers studying popular literature, social history, or the history of temperance and drug regulation, it is vivid primary material; ordinary readers, too, can feel the particular warmth and didactic flavor of the old-fashioned domestic novel.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American popular fiction
Those studying addiction, drugs, and related social history
Readers who enjoy stories of family ethics and moral conflict
Enthusiasts of Victorian literature on social problems

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern narrative pacing and have little tolerance for coincidence-driven plots
Readers seeking medical or professional addiction knowledge
Those put off by an evidently didactic tone and good-versus-evil characterization

Reading tips

Read the author's preface first to grasp his intent and the book's focus.
Trace the addiction thread and the family plot separately for a clearer view of the structure.
Note how the book evaluates drugs and morality, and compare it with contemporary views.
If the pace feels slow, read selected chapters along the character lines.

Copyright information
PREFACE
CHAPTER I ONE GIRL'S IDEAL OF LIFE
CHAPTER II WEAKNESS
CHAPTER III CONFIDENTIAL
CHAPTER IV "PITILESS WAVES"
CHAPTER V THE RUDIMENTS OF A MAN
CHAPTER VI ROGER DISCOVERS A NEW TYPE
CHAPTER VII COMPARISONS
CHAPTER VIII CHANGES
CHAPTER IX NEITHER BOY NOR MAN
CHAPTER X A COUNCIL
CHAPTER XI A SHADOW
CHAPTER XII VIEWLESS FETTERS
CHAPTER XIII A SCENE BENEATH THE HEMLOCKS
CHAPTER XIV THE OLD MANSION
CHAPTER XV "WELCOME HOME"
CHAPTER XVI BELLE AND MILDRED
CHAPTER XVII BELLE LAUNCHES HERSELF
CHAPTER XVIII "I BELIEVE IN YOU"
CHAPTER XIX BELLE JARS THE "SYSTEM"
CHAPTER XX SEVERAL QUIET FORCES AT WORK.
CHAPTER XXI "HE'S A MAN"
CHAPTER XXII SKILLED LABOR
CHAPTER XXIII THE OLD ASTRONOMER
CHAPTER XXIV ROGER REAPPEARS
CHAPTER XXV THE DARK SHADOW OF COMING EVENTS
CHAPTER XXVI WAXING AND WANING MANHOOD
CHAPTER XXVII A SLAVE
CHAPTER XXVIII NEW YORK'S HUMANITY
CHAPTER XXIX THE BEATITUDES OF OPIUM
CHAPTER XXX THE SECRET VICE REVEALED
CHAPTER XXXI AN OPIUM MANIAC'S CHRISTMAS
CHAPTER XXXII A BLACK CONSPIRACY
CHAPTER XXXIII MILDRED IN A PRISON CELL
CHAPTER XXXIV "A WISE JUDGE"
CHAPTER XXXV "I AM SO PERPLEXED"
CHAPTER XXXVI A WOMAN'S HEART
CHAPTER XXXVII STRONG TEMPTATION
CHAPTER XXXVIII NO "DARK CORNERS"
CHAPTER XXXIX "HOME, SWEET HOME!"
CHAPTER XL NEIGHBORS
CHAPTER XLI GLINTS OF SUNSHINE
CHAPTER XLII HOPES GIVEN AND SLAIN
CHAPTER XLIII WAS BELLE MURDERED?
CHAPTER XLIV THE FINAL CONSOLATIONS OF OPIUM
CHAPTER XLV MOTHER AND SON
CHAPTER XLVI A FATAL ERROR
CHAPTER XLVII LIGHT AT EVENTIDE
CHAPTER XLVIII "GOOD ANGEL OF GOD"
CHAPTER XLIX HOME
APPENDIX

FAQ

What is this book mainly about?

The novel opens with a lively family party and revolves around the family of the young girl Belle, introducing in the course of the plot the then-sensitive social issue of opium and morphine addiction. The author, Roe, makes this focus explicit in his preface, and the story uses it to explore the relations among family, morality, and personal ruin, with a distinct coloring of social concern.

Do the depictions of addiction have medical reference value?

They should not be used as medical material. They reflect nineteenth-century American popular understanding and moral judgment of opium and morphine addiction, not modern medical conclusions. Their value lies in social and literary history, helping readers understand the discourse of the time, but they cannot replace professional medical or addiction knowledge.

The plot moves slowly; how can I keep reading?

You can read along separate character lines: follow the fate of Belle's family and the characters connected with addiction first, then fill in the secondary plot. You can also read it as a panorama of social manners, noting domestic scenes, social etiquette, and moralizing—these details have value in themselves.

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About the author

Edward Payson Roe Author · American · 1838–1888

Edward Payson Roe (1838–1888) was an American novelist, Presbyterian minister, and horticultural writer. Born in New York State in 1838 and died at Cornwall in 1888, he served as a military chaplain during the Civil War and later turned to writing. He first won fame with Barriers Burned Away and wrote some twenty novels, including Without a Home, most of them carrying moral and religious themes and often testing faith and character within their plots. He also wrote horticultural works such as Success with Small Fruits, reflecting his interest in practical farming. His novels and gardening books found wide readers in both Britain and America, and the library classifies him under inspirational growth, holding three of his works: Without a Home, Success with Small Fruits, and Taken Alive.