Violet Vivian Stuart ( ''née'' Finlay; 2 January 1914 – 18 August 1986) was a British writer from 1953 to 1986. She published under different pen names: her

romantic novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s as Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, and Robyn Stuart, her

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

sagas as V.A. Stuart, and her historical saga as William Stuart Long. In 1960, she was a founder of the

Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body that represents authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stuar ...

, along with

Denise Robins Denise Robins (née Denise Naomi Klein; 1 February 1897 – 1 May 1985) was a prolific English romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960–1966). She wrote under her first married name and under the ...

Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary romance, contemporary and historical romance novels, the lat ...

, and others; she was elected the first chairman. In 1970, she became the first woman to chair

Swanwick writers' summer school The Swanwick Writers' Summer School is an annual writers' conference held at The Hayes Conference Centre, near Swanwick, Derbyshire. Founded in 1948, and first held in the summer of 1949, it is believed to be the oldest independent writers' sc ...

Biography

Personal life

Violet Vivian Finlay was born in Berkshire, England on 2 January 1914. She was the daughter of Alice Kathleen (née Norton) and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay, the owner and director of Burmah Oil Company Ltd., whose Scottish family also owned James Finlay and Company Ltd. The majority of her childhood and youth was spent in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(now also known as Myanmar), where her father worked. Finlay married four times and bore five children, Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart. Following the dissolution of her first marriage, she studied Law in London in the mid 1930s, before deciding to study Medicine at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Later she spent time in Hungary in the capacity of private tutor in English, while she obtained a pathologist qualification at the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in 1938. In 1939, she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor Geza Santow with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Having earned an ambulance driver's certificate, she joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was attached to the IVth Army, and raised to the rank of captain, she was posted to British XIV Army in Rangoon, Burma in October 1945, and was then transferred to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

in December. After the war she returned to England. On 24 October 1958, she married her fourth and last husband, Cyril William Mann, an investment banker. Violet Vivian Mann died in 1986 in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, at age 72. She continued writing until her death.

Writing career

She published her first novels in 1953. She signed her romantic fiction as Vivian Stuart, one of her married names, and under the pen names of Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay and Robyn Stuart, while for her military sagas, "Alexander Sheridan Saga" and "Phillip Hazard Saga" she used the name V.A. Stuart. William Stuart Long was her pen name for the popular historical series: "Australians", based on her research at The Mitchell Library Sydney; The National Maritime Museum; British Public Records Office and the New York Public Library. Many of her romance novels were protagonized by doctors or nurses, and set in Asia, Australia or other places she had visited. Her novel, "Gay Cavalier" (1955 as Alex Stuart) caused trouble between Vivian and her

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

editors. She featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" outraged many people in the United Kingdom at the time. In 1960, she was a founder of the

, along with

, and others; she was elected the first chairman. In 1970, she became the first woman to chair

Bibliography

Some of Stuart's novels are released under different pen names or titles.

As Vivian Stuart

Single novels

*Along Came Ann (1953) a.k.a. Along Came Doctor Ann *Proud Heart (1953) *The Unlit Heart (1954) a.k.a. Jungle Doctor *Eyes of the Night (1954) *Pilgrim Heart (1955) a.k.a. Doctor in the Tropics *Lover Betrayed (1955) *No Single Star (1956) *Life Is the Destiny (1958) *Nurse in Malaya (1960) *The Unlit Love (1961) *The Summer's Flower (1961) *The New Mrs. Aldrich (1976)

Non fiction

*The Beloved Little Admiral: Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel 1809–1904 (1967)

Non fiction in collaboration

*His Majesty's Sloop-of-War: Diamond Rock (1978) (with George T. Eggleston)

Alex Stuart

Single novels

*The Captain's Table (1953) *Ship's Nurse (1954) *Soldier's Daughter (1954) *Gay Cavalier (1955) *Island for Sale (1955) *Bachelor of Medicine (1956) *A Cruise for Cinderella (1956) *Huntsman's Folly (1956) *Garrison Hospital (1957) *Queen's Counsel (1957) *The Last of the Logans (1957) *Master of Guise (1957) *Master of Surgery (1958) a.k.a. That Wonderful Feeling *Daughters of the Governor (1958) *Castle in the Mist (1959) *Peacock Pagoda (1959) *Return to Love (1960) *Star of Oudh (1960) a.k.a. On Her Majesty's Orders *Doctor Mary Courage (1961) a.k.a. Only a Memory *Spencer's Hospital (1961) *Sister Margarita (1961) a.k.a. Nurse in Spain *Doctor on Horseback (1962) *The dedicated (1962) *Doctor of Rhua (1964) a.k.a. The Piper of Laide *Maiden Voyage (1964) *Samaritan's Hospital (1965) *There But for Fortune (1966) *Random Island (1967) *Strangers When We Meet (1968) *Stranger in Town (1970) *Young Doctor Mason (1970) *Research Fellow (1971) *A Sunset Touch (1972)

Anthologies in collaboration

*Fair Horizon / Desert Nurse / Queen's Counsel (1970) (with

Jane Arbor Eileen Norah Owbridge (''née'' Murphy; 8 September 1903 – 4 February 1994) was a British writer who under the pseudonym Jane Arbor wrote 57 romances for Mills & Boon from 1948 to 1985. She wrote doctor-nurse and foreign romances. Many of h ...

Rosalind Brett Rosalind Jane Brett (born 12 March 1979) is an English former competition swimmer. Swimming career She represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games, winn ...

) *Nurse on Holiday / Country of the Heart / Last of the Logans (1972) (with Catherine Airlie,

) *Return to Love / Stormy Haven / Nurse to Captain Andy (1972) (with

, Jill Christian) *Send for Nurse Vincent / Island For Sale / Winter is Past (1973) (with Margaret Malcolm and Anne Weale) *Harlequin Classic Library (1980) (with Elizabeth Hoy, Susan Barrie,

Mary Burchell Ida Cook (24 August 190422 December 1986) was a British campaigner for Jewish refugees and a romance novelist as Mary Burchell. Ida Cook and her sister Mary Louise Cook (1901–1991) rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s. The sisters h ...

, Juliet Shore, Jean S. MacLeod, Elizabeth Houghton and Jill Tahourdin)

As Barbara Allen

Single novels

*Doctor Lucy (1956) *Someone Else's Heart (1958) *The Gay Gordons (1961) *The Scottish Soldier (1966)

As Fiona Finlay

Single novels

*Moon Over Madrid (1957)

As V.A. Stuart

Alexander Sheridan Series

#Like Victors and Lords (1964) a.k.a. Victors and Lords a.k.a. Captain of Cavalry #The Sepoy Mutiny (1973) a.k.a. Mutiny in Meerut a.k.a. Mutiny at Dawn #Massacre at Cawnpore (1973) #Cannons of Lucknow (1974) a.k.a. Battle for Lucknow #The Heroic Garrison (1973)

Phillip Hazard Series

#The Valiant Sailors (1966) #Brave Captains (1968) a.k.a. The Brave Captains #Black Sea Frigate (1971) a.k.a. Hazard's Command #Hazard of Huntress (1972) #Hazard in Circassia (1973) #Victory at Sebastopol (1973) a.k.a. Hazard to the Rescue #Guns to the Far East (1975) a.k.a. Shannon's Brigade #Escape from Hell (1976) a.k.a. Sailors on Horseback

As William Stuart Long

Australians Series

#The Exiles (1979) #The Settlers (1980) #The Traitors (1981) #The Explorers (1982) #The Adventurers (1983) #The Colonists (1984) #The Gold Seekers (1985) #The Patriots (1986) a.k.a. The Gallant #The Empire Builders (1987) #The Seafarers (1988) #The Nationalists (1989) #The Imperialists (1990)

As Robyn Stuart

Single novels

*''Buccaneer's Lady'' (1981) *''Wild Rivers Run'' (1983) *''From the Flames'' (1983)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Vivian 1914 births 1986 deaths English women novelists English romantic fiction writers English adventure novelists English historical novelists Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists Women historical novelists