Vivian Stuart was a prolific British author who wrote under various pen names, including Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, Robyn Stuart, and V.A. Stuart for her military sagas.
Violet Vivian Stuart was born in Berkshire, England. Violet Vivian Finlay was the daughter of Alice Kathleen and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay. With Scottish roots, the Finlay family was associated with prestigious entities like Burmah Oil Company Ltd. Violet spent her childhood and youth in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), where her father held a prominent position.
Stuart married four times and had five children: Gillian Rushton, Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch, and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart. She studied Law in London during the mid-1930s after her first marriage ended in dissolution. She later shifted her focus to Medicine at the University of London.
A pathologist qualified at the University of Budapest in 1938, Violet Vivian Stuart worked as a private English tutor in Hungary.
As World War II loomed, Violet emigrated to Australia in 1939 with her second husband, Dr. Geza Santow. Their journey together included her obtaining a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at the Technical Institute of Newcastle. Not one to shy away from duty, Violet joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service, earning the rank of captain. In the final stages of the war, Stuart served in Rangoon, Burma, with the British XIV Army. She returned to England after the war.
The first novel Vivian Stuart published in 1953 marked the beginning of her literary career. Notably, her romantic fiction under the pen name Vivian Stuart often featured protagonists in medical professions and settings in Asia, Australia, and other places she had visited. One of her novels, Gay Cavalier (1955 as Alex Stuart), challenged societal norms by including a secondary plot line depicting a mixed marriage.
Phillip Hazard stands out among her notable works as an early steam-era naval fiction series set during the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. The series follows the adventures of Commander Phillip Hazard and offers a vivid portrayal of land-based naval operations assisting the army.
In 1960, Stuart became a founding member and first chairman of the Romantic Novelists' Association, alongside luminaries like Denise Robins and Barbara Cartland. In 1970, she achieved another milestone by becoming the first woman to chair the Swanwick Writers' summer school.
Her contributions extended beyond the realm of fiction, encompassing non-fiction works such as The Beloved Little Admiral: Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel 1809–1904 (1967) and collaborative efforts like His Majesty's Sloop-of-War: Diamond Rock (1978) with George T. Eggleston.
She enriched the literary landscape until she passed away at 72 in 1986.
