Barbara A. Owens is a narrator whose composition is full of emotions, spiritual resistance and love breaking all boundaries of time. Her novel When Fire Taught Us to Speak is a result of the urge to reach out to the strength of passion in a world where people have to be quiet. Barbara manages to capture the plights of the struggle of faith, identity, and the bravery to be able to stand up and say what is right to her even when it is judged against her.

Being a mother, dreamer, and believer in the transformative power of love, Barbara dedicates her narrated stories to her children hoping to leave the message that true love does not last long, but it is persistent, prophetic, and healing. She is brave and gentle, inspiring the reader to explore the world in which silence is violated, chains are broken and heart is a guiding flame.