Now, Voyager

Femmes Fatales

De: Olive Higgins Prouty

Narrado por: Coleen Marlo

"Don’t let’s ask for the moon! We have the stars!” The film that concludes with Bette Davis’s famous word reaffirmed Davis’s own stardom and changed the way Americans smoked cigarettes. But few contemporary fans of this story of a woman’s self-realization know its source. Olive Higgins Prouty’s 1941 novel Now, Voyager provides an even richer, deeper portrait of the inner life of its protagonist and the society she inhabits. Viewed from a distance of more than 60 years, it also offers fresh and quietly radical takes on psychiatric treatment, traditional family life, female desire, and women’s agency.

Boston blueblood Charlotte Vale has led an unhappy, sheltered life. Lonely, dowdy, repressed, and pushing 40, Charlotte finds salvation at a sanitarium, where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation. After her extreme makeover, the new Charlotte tests her mettle by embarking on a cruise and finds herself in a torrid love affair with a married man which ends at the conclusion of the voyage. But only then can the real journey begin, as Charlotte is forced to navigate a new life for herself. While Now, Voyager is a tear-jerking romance, it is at the same time the empowering story of a woman who finds the strength to chart her own course in life; who discovers love, sex, and even motherhood outside of marriage; and who learns that men are, ultimately, dispensable in the quest for happiness and fulfillment.

©2004 Olive Higgins Prout (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

As Fabulous as Bette

Just as stylish as the Bette Davis movie and a joy to experience again and again.

I was most surprised by its adult content, for its time, and how beautifully its told.

I love these characters, the originality of their journies and their shared language, understandings, and humor.

Never out of time

This is one story that never ages. The manners, the honor, the styles have disappeared. The feelings, the relationships are brand new and remain that way. Its a truly great book.
Prouty wrote "chic books" and terrific ones. The five "vale" books are one of the best series ever. It would be a fine republishing venture to bring them out again.
Th reader is a bit too young sounding and a director should have caught mispronunciations that jar.

I think the movie was better but the book is close

Bette Davis adds more depth and dimension to the main character portrayed in the book. I found it an enjoyable read and especially liked going down memory lane in the scenes of Boston and Maine, where I spent the 1970's and 80's.

The Inspiration for The Movie Classic

Many cinema fans know that the 1940s were a box office heyday for Hollywood actresses. But many of us today don't realize that these great femme film vehicles were written by gifted women novelists, whose words brought these great characters to life.

"Now, Voyager" the movie, was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by Library of Congress and concludes with one of the most famous romance quotes of cinema, "Don't let's ask for the moon! We have the stars!"

The book gives a deeper, more nuanced look into the roles and psychological lives of women in 1930s America.

When she escapes the oppression of her abusive mother, ugly duckling Charlotte blossoms, and sets sail on a trip to South America where she falls in love with a married man. Can she have it all?

This is one of the best tales of falling in love, ever. Charlotte's experience of her first kiss, of being called "darling" for the first time, is the pinnacle of romantic storytelling. Sigh...