   mary, lady stewart, nÃ©e mary florence elinor rainbow (17 september 1916 â 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. ==biography== ===personal life=== mary stewart was born mary florence elinor rainbow on 17 september 1916 in sunderland, county durham, england, uk, daughter of mary edith matthews, from new zealand, and frederick rainbow, a vicar.telegraph (accessed 28 may 2007)encyclopedia britannica student encyclopedia (accessed 28 may 2007) she graduated from durham university in 1938 with first-class honours in english. her original intention to become a professor was derailed by the scarcity of jobs during world war ii; she earned a teaching certificate and taught primary school for a while. after the war, she continued on for her masters degree and became a lecturer in english language and literature at the university. she received an honorary d.litt in 2009.durham university honorary degrees it was in durham that she met and married her husband, frederick stewart, a young scot who lectured in geology. they married in 1945, only three months after they met at a ve day dance. at 30, she suffered an ectopic pregnancy, undiagnosed for several weeks, and subsequently could not have children. in 1956, they moved to edinburgh, where he became professor of geology and mineralogy, and later chairman of the geology department of [[edinburgh universi
1916_births 2014_deaths 20th-century_British_novelists 20th-century_women_writers Agatha_Award_winners Alumni_of_Durham_University British_women_short_story_writers English_fantasy_writers English_historical_novelists English_mystery_writers English_romantic_fiction_writers English_women_novelists People_from_Sunderland,_Tyne_and_Wear Women_mystery_writers Women_romantic_fiction_writers Women_science_fiction_and_fantasy_writers Writers_of_modern_Arthurian_fiction