Stewart was the best-selling author of many romantic suspense and historical fiction novels. Madam, Will You Talk? was an immediate success, followed by many other successful works over the years. Following the move to Scotland, she submitted a novel to the publishers Hodder & Stoughton. ![]() Mary, in her own words, was a "born storyteller" and had been writing stories since the age of three. It was in Durham that she met and married her husband, Frederick Stewart, a young Scot who lectured in Geology. Between 19, she was an assistant lecturer (1941–5) and part-time lecturer (1948–56) in English literature, mostly Anglo-Saxon, at Durham University. The scarcity of jobs during World War II meant that she held a variety of posts during this period, including primary school teaching, teaching at secondary level at a girls' boarding school, and working part-time at the Sixth Form of Durham School. She graduated from Durham University 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. Offered places by Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham universities, she chose Durham as it offered the largest bursary and least travel. At ten, she won a scholarship to Skellfield School, Ripon, Yorkshire, where she excelled at sport. She was bullied there and stated that this had a lasting effect on her. She was a bright child and attended Eden Hall boarding school in Penrith, Cumbria, age eight. ![]() ![]() Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow was born on 17 September 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England, UK, daughter of Mary Edith Matthews, a primary school teacher from New Zealand, and Frederick Albert Rainbow, a vicar. 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. Mary, Lady Stewart (born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow 17 September 1916 – ) was a British novelist who developed the romantic mystery genre, featuring smart, adventurous heroines who could hold their own in dangerous situations.
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