author
Olive Higgins Prouty
1882–1974
Best known for the novels Stella Dallas and Now, Voyager, she wrote emotionally direct stories about family life, women’s inner struggles, and the search for independence. Her work reached a huge audience in print and on screen, and it still stands out for its sympathy and psychological depth.
2 Audiobooks
The Fifth Wheel: A Novel
by Olive Higgins Prouty
Bobbie, General Manager: A Novel
by Olive Higgins Prouty
About the author
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1882, Olive Higgins Prouty became an American novelist and poet whose fiction often centered on women’s emotional lives, marriage, motherhood, and social expectations. She studied at Smith College and later built a successful writing career during the early and mid-20th century.
She is most closely associated with Stella Dallas (1923), a bestselling novel that was adapted for film, and Now, Voyager (1941), another widely read work that also became a celebrated movie. Readers were drawn to her gift for writing intimate, accessible stories about personal sacrifice, resilience, and the complicated pressures placed on women.
Prouty is also remembered for treating mental health and psychotherapy with unusual seriousness for her time, especially in Now, Voyager. That willingness to explore inner life with warmth and honesty helped give her novels a lasting appeal beyond their era.