Mary, Lady Stewart (born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow; 17 September 1916 – 9 May 2014) was a British novelist who developed the romantic mystery genre, featuring smart, adventurous heroines who could hold their own in dangerous situations. She also wrote children's books and poetry, but may be best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and fantasy. Adaptations of her books include both ''The Moon-Spinners'': a Walt Disney live-action movie, and ''The Little Broomstick'' (1971) which became an animated feature film titled ''

Mary and the Witch's Flower is a 2017 Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi from a screenplay by Yonebayashi and Riko Sawaguchi. It was produced by Yoshiaki Nishimura, animated by Studio Ponoc, and distributed by Toho in Japan. Based on the 197 ...

'' (2017, dir.

Hiromasa Yonebayashi , nicknamed , is a Japanese animator and director, formerly for Studio Ghibli. After his directorial debut with Studio Ghibli ('' The Secret World of Arrietty''), he became the youngest director of a theatrical film produced by the studio. He was ...

Early life and education

Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow was born on 17 September 1916 in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, County Durham, England, UK, daughter of Mary Edith Matthews, a primary school teacher from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and Frederick Albert Rainbow, a vicar. She was a bright child and attended Eden Hall boarding school in Penrith, Cumbria, age eight. She was bullied there and stated that this had a lasting effect on her. At ten, she won a scholarship to Skellfield School,

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

, Yorkshire, where she excelled at sport. Offered places by Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham universities, she chose Durham as it offered the largest bursary and least travel. She graduated from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1938 with first-class honours in English, was awarded a first-class Teaching Diploma in English with Art the following year and in 1941 gained her master's degree.

Academic teaching

Stewart held a variety of posts during World War II, including primary school teaching, teaching at secondary level at a girls' boarding school, and working part-time at the sixth form of

Durham School Durham School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located in Durham, England, Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of th ...

. Between 1941 and 1956, she was an assistant lecturer (1941–5) and part-time lecturer (1948–56) in English literature, mostly

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

, at Durham University. She received an honorary D.Litt. in 2009. It was in Durham that she met and married her husband, Frederick Stewart, a young Scot who lectured in Geology. She became known as Mary Stewart. In 1956, the couple moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Mary, in her own words, was a "born storyteller" and had been writing stories since the age of three. Following the move to Scotland, she submitted a novel to the publishers Hodder & Stoughton. ''Madam, Will You Talk?'' was an immediate success, followed by many other successful works over the years.

Writing career

Stewart was the best-selling author of many romantic

suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

and

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novels. They were well received by critics, due especially to her skillful story-telling and elegant prose. Her novels are also known for their well-crafted settings, many in England but also in such locations as

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and the

Greek islands Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by ...

, as well as Spain, France, and Austria. Stewart herself said that her pleasure was to take "conventionally bizarre situations (the car chase, the closed-room murder, the wicked uncle tale) and send real people into them, normal, everyday people with normal, everyday reactions to violence and fear; people not 'heroic' in the conventional sense, but averagely intelligent men and women who could be shocked or outraged into defending, if necessary, with great physical bravery, what they held to be right". She was at the height of her popularity from the late 1950s to the 1980s, when many of her novels were translated into other languages. ''The Moon-Spinners'', one of her most popular novels, was also made into a Walt Disney live-action movie. In 2017 ''The Little Broomstick'' (1971) was adapted into the animated feature film titled ''

''. Stewart was one of the most prominent writers of the romantic suspense subgenre (''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called her its "pioneer"), blending romance novels and mystery. Critically, her works are considered superior to those of other acclaimed romantic suspense novelists, such as

Victoria Holt Eleanor Alice Hibbert (Maiden and married names, née Burford; 1 September 1906 – 18 January 1993) was an English writer of Romance novel#Historical romance, historical romances. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in ...

and Phyllis Whitney. She seamlessly combined the two genres, maintaining a full mystery while focusing on the courtship between two people, so that the process of solving the mystery "helps to illuminate" the hero's personality—thereby helping the heroine to fall in love with him. In the late 1960s a new generation of young readers revived a readership in

T. H. White Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer. He is best known for his Arthurian novels, which were published together in 1958 as '' The Once and Future King''. One of his best known is the first of the s ...

's ''

The Once and Future King ''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection o ...

'' (published in full 1958) and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' (published in full 1956), and as a consequence

Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...

and heroic legends regained popularity among a critical mass of readers. Mary Stewart added to this climate by publishing ''

The Crystal Cave ''The Crystal Cave'' is a 1970 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. The first in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, it is followed by '' The Hollow Hills''. Plot introduction The protagonist of this story is a boy named Myrddin Emr ...

'' (1970), the first in what was to become The Merlin Trilogy (full series: The Arthurian Saga). The books placed Stewart on the best-seller list many times throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Personal life

Mary Rainbow met and married her husband, Frederick Stewart, a young Scot lecturer in Geology, whilst they were both working at Durham University. They were married by her father in September 1945 after having met at a VE Day dance; their engagement was announced in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' only one month after they met. At 30, she suffered an

ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these sympto ...

, undiagnosed for several weeks, and as a consequence could not have children. In 1956, they moved to

, where he became professor of geology and mineralogy, and later chairman of the Geology Department at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In 1974, Mary's husband Frederick Stewart was knighted and she became Lady Stewart, although she never used the title. Her husband died in 2001. In semi-retirement Stewart resided in Edinburgh as well as near

Loch Awe Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Obha''; also sometimes anglicised as Lochawe, Lochaw, or Lochow) is a large body of freshwater in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Lo ...

. An avid gardener, Mary and her husband shared a keen love of nature. She was also fond of her cat Tory, a black and white female, who lived to be eighteen. Mary Stewart died on 9 May 2014. Her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was added in 2022.

Awards

Fantasy genre

Mystery genre

Bibliography

Romantic suspense novels

*'' Madam, Will You Talk?'' (1955) *'' Wildfire at Midnight'' (1956) *''Thunder on the Right'' (1957) *'' Nine Coaches Waiting'' (1958) *'' My Brother Michael'' (1959) *'' The Ivy Tree'' (1961) *''The Moon-Spinners'' (1962), filmed as ''

The Moon-Spinners ''The Moon-Spinners'' is a 1964 American mystery film starring Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach and Peter McEnery in a story about a jewel thief hiding on the island of Crete. Produced by Walt Disney Productions, the film was loosely based upon a 1962 ...

'' *''

This Rough Magic ''This Rough Magic'' is a romantic suspense novel by Mary Stewart, first published in 1964. The title is a quote from William Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. Like several other novels by Stewart, it is set in Greece and has an element of susp ...

'' (1964) *'' Airs Above the Ground'' (1965) *''The Gabriel Hounds'' (1967) *'' The Wind Off the Small Isles'' (1968) *'' Touch Not the Cat'' (1976) *'' Thornyhold'' (1988) *''Stormy Petrel'' (1991) *''Rose Cottage'' (1997)

The Arthurian Saga

#''

'' (1970) #''

The Hollow Hills ''The Hollow Hills'' is a novel by Mary Stewart. It is the second in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian Legends. This book is preceded by '' The Crystal Cave'' and succeeded by '' The Last Enchantment''. ''The Hollow Hills'' was publ ...

'' (1973) #'' The Last Enchantment'' (1979) #'' The Wicked Day'' (1983) #'' The Prince and the Pilgrim'' (1995)

Children's novels

*''The Little Broomstick'' (1971) (adapted as the 2017 animated feature film ''

'') *''Ludo and the Star Horse'' (1974) *'' A Walk in Wolf Wood'' (1980) *''The Castle of Danger'' (1981) - children's version of '' Nine Coaches Waiting'' (1958)

Poetry

*''Frost on the Window: And other Poems'' (1990) (poetry collection)

References

Sources

* * *Stewart, Mary (1973), ''About Mary Stewart'', Ontario, Canada: Musson Book Company, 14 page booklet with no ISBN

External links

"Off the Page-Mary Stewart"
2010. Culture and literature series featuring a Scottish writer each week. In this episode, romance and historical novelist Mary Stewart discusses her natural passion for reading and writing, and the creation of her Merlin novels.
"Mary Stewart: A Teller of Tales"
2011. Article by Katherine Hall Page from ''Mystery Scene''.

* ttp://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20066853,00.html "Novelist Mary Stewart's a Lady Like Antonia Fraser—by Title; and That Ends the Similarity"1976. Early ''People'' magazine article by Fred Hauptfuhrer. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Mary 1916 births 2014 deaths Writers of modern Arthurian fiction English fantasy writers English mystery writers English historical novelists English romantic fiction writers Agatha Award winners Alumni of St Hild's College, Durham 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Writers from Sunderland British women short story writers British women science fiction and fantasy writers British women romantic fiction writers British women mystery writers English women novelists English short story writers British women historical novelists 20th-century British short story writers