Mary Jane Ward (August 27, 1905 in Fairmount, Indiana—February 17, 1981, in Tucson, Arizona) was an American novelist whose semi-autobiographical book The Snake Pit was made into an Oscar-winning film.

Ward's semi-autobiographical story about a woman's recovery from mental illness made more than a hundred thousand dollars in its first month; it was quickly chosen for Random House's book-of-the-month club, was condensed by Reader's Digest, and developed into an Oscar-winning film The Snake Pit, starring Olivia de Havilland.

After graduating from high school, Ward studied at Northwestern University and at Chicago's Lyceum of Arts Conservatory, and went on to work at a series of odd jobs.

As in the movie Snake Pit, there are frequent jokes over the economic insecurities of the day, the plight of women in a depressed economy, and the need for solidarity among the downtrodden.

[7] At the time The Snake Pit was published, Ward denied that the story reflected in any way on her own life, but it was later revealed that the book had been formed around her experiences at Rockland.

[9] Dr. Militades Zaphiropoulos, who also worked at Rockland while Ward was being treated there, stated in an interview that Chrzanowski was nicknamed "Dr. Kik" because Americans tended to have difficulty pronouncing his name.

[10] In contrast with the motion picture, the novel Snake Pit shows Virginia to disagree with Dr. Kik's Freudian interpretations of her illness.