The Householder is a 1960 English-language novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

[2] It is about a young man named Prem who has recently moved from the first stage of his life, a student, to the second stage of his life, a householder.

The book is a bildungsroman, which is a story where the protagonist develops mind and character as he passes from childhood through various experiences usually through a spiritual crisis into maturity.

[3] A film adaptation of The Householder was released in 1963, and Jhabvala started her career as a screenwriter by co-writing its screenplay with director James Ivory.

[4] It was also Ivory's directorial debut (not including documentary shorts) as well as his first collaboration with producer Ismail Merchant.