14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the hardest struggle for a better life happens in the small moments no one else notices?
At sixteen, Katherine Mortimer begins a diary. Everyone calls her Katy, and she has plenty to say: she is clever, lively, vain, and quick to anger. In Elizabeth Prentiss's Stepping Heavenward, her private pages reveal a young woman who sees her faults but finds changing them far harder than naming them.
As Katy moves through courtship, marriage, and motherhood, ordinary life brings fresh tests of patience and faith. Her gentle mother, the frank pastor Dr. Cabot, and the steady Ernest Elliott offer guidance and challenge. Through household demands, pride, sorrow, and doubt, Katy struggles to live by the Christian beliefs she wants to trust.
What you’ll discover
- An honest private diary Meet Katy through the thoughts and feelings she cannot say aloud.
- Small faults, real struggles Watch temper and vanity turn everyday encounters into tests of character.
- Love that asks more Explore how courtship and marriage challenge Katy's habits and hopes.
- The demands of home Enter a household where children, visitors, and daily tasks call for patient love.
- Faith under pressure Follow Katy's questions as illness, loss, and doubt test her trust in God.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy diary stories, warm family life, and honest portraits of a woman growing up. It suits readers who value faith, marriage, and the goodness of ordinary days.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Good intentions meet an ordinary morning
- Love shows itself through obedience
- Failed love does not erase worth
- Service begins with the nearest duty
- First impressions can keep love apart
- Marriage reveals burdens Katy cannot see
- Trials reveal what needs to change
- Ordinary care belongs within spiritual life
- Growth takes shape in daily surrender
Who’s who
- Katy MortimerThe warm, impulsive, quick-tempered girl who keeps the journal and longs to be good, though she often fails.
- MotherKaty's gentle, wise parent, who sees her daughter's faults clearly and prays and waits patiently for her to grow.
- Dr. CabotThe kind pastor who tells Katy that God loves her and that obedience, not mere feeling, shows her love for Him.
- Ernest ElliottThe grave, hard-working doctor who loves Katy deeply but shows it quietly, and who takes on his father's debts.
- Martha ElliottErnest's stern, thrifty sister, who moves into Katy's home and tries her patience at every turn.
- Amelia GordonKaty's cheerful school friend, who is easily pleased, loves admiration, and drifts away from her.
- Charley UnderhillThe handsome young man who flatters Katy and charms her, but cares most for his own comfort.
- Mrs. CampbellA bedridden woman whose cheerful faith in suffering teaches Katy to learn Christ.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Stepping Heavenward in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Stepping Heavenward
by Elizabeth Prentiss · 1869
A quick-tempered sixteen-year-old starts a journal and learns to put others first.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Doubt everything, but believe in Christ.”
In short
Katherine Mortimer wakes on her sixteenth birthday too cold to get up and full of fine resolutions. By the time she reaches school she has snapped at her mother, skipped her prayers, and refused her overshoes.
Stepping Heavenward at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 20 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 90,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1869by Elizabeth Prentiss
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A birthday of resolutions and quick temper
The journal opens on 15 January 1831. Katy turns sixteen and treats the day as a fresh start. She resolves to please her mother, control her temper, and practise self-denial like the heroes in her books.
Then the day begins. When her mother asks about overshoes in a snowstorm, Katy cries that she wishes she could ever have her own way. Her mother quietly says she shall have it now. At home her mother tells her that stubbornness and conceit cause great pain, and that Katy has four years to decide what kind of woman she will be.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1869
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Prentiss, Elizabeth. Stepping Heavenward. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/stepping-heavenward.
Prentiss, E. (2026). Stepping heavenward. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/stepping-heavenward (Original work published 1869)
Prentiss, Elizabeth. Stepping Heavenward. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/stepping-heavenward.
@book{prentiss2026stepping,
author = {Prentiss, Elizabeth},
title = {Stepping Heavenward},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/stepping-heavenward},
note = {First published 1869}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Stepping Heavenward
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Stepping Heavenward about?
It is the journal of Katherine Mortimer, from age sixteen into middle life. She struggles with temper, pride, love, marriage, motherhood, and illness, and she gradually learns to trust God and to love the people around her.
Is Stepping Heavenward a true story?
It is a novel written as a diary, though many details of home, church, and sickroom life feel real. Elizabeth Prentiss, who died in 1878, drew on the world she knew in nineteenth-century America.
What does the title Stepping Heavenward mean?
It describes the Christian life as a journey toward heaven taken in small, uneven steps. Katy often says she moves two steps forward and one back, yet she keeps moving in the right direction.
The author
Elizabeth Prentiss
1818–1878 · American novelist and hymnwriter
Elizabeth Prentiss (1818–1878) was an American writer and hymnwriter. She was born in Portland, Maine, and later lived in New York City and Dorset, Vermont. Her novel Stepping Heavenward was published in 1869. She also wrote the hymn “More Love to Thee.” She died in Dorset.
“Doubt everything, but believe in Christ.”
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
