Vivian Stuart

Violet Vivian Finlay was born on January 2, 1914 in Berkshire, England, daughter of Alice Kathleen (Norton) and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay. The majority of her childhood was spent in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), where her father worked. During her youth, she frequently journeyed between India, Singapore, Java and Sumatra. She married four times, and had five children: Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart. Her studies included: Medicine in London, Pathologist in Budapest, and Chemistry and Laboratory Technique in Newcastle. During World War II, she joined the Australian Forces and was attached to the IVth Army, later transferred to British XIV Army in Burma.

Published since 1953, she signed her romance novels as: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, and Robyn Stuart; she signed as V.A. Stuart her military sagas: Alexander Sheridan and Phillip Hazard; and as William Stuart Long she singed her historical fiction series: the Australians. In August 1986, Violet Vivian Finlay Stuart Mann passed away at 72, who continued writing until her death.