She was born Jean Yvonne Higham in Denton, Lancashire the daughter of Joseph Higham, a lecturer at Manchester University and Millies Darby, and was educated at Manchester High School for Girls, the Manchester School of Art and Loreburn Secretarial College in Manchester.
Stubbs worked as a copywriter for Henry Melland from 1964 to 1966 and was a reviewer for Books and Bookmen from 1965 to 1976.
She received the Tom Gallon Trust Award for short story in 1964.
[1] Her 1973 novel Dear Laura was nominated for an Edgar Award.
She was married twice: first to Peter Stubbs in 1948 and then to Roy Oliver in 1980.