Violet Vivian Finlay was born on January 2, 1914. Although Vivian is well-known by her first husband's surname, Stuart, that she used to sign many of her books, she re-married a second time, using the name of Mann. Vivian passed away in August, 1986, at 72.

She was a prolific writer from 1953 to 1986 under diferent pseudonyms: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V.A. Stuart, William Stuart Long and Robyn Stuart. Her novel, *Gay Cavalier* published in 1955 as Alex Stuart got her into trouble with her Mills & Boon editors when she featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" touched nerves in the United Kingdom.

In 1960, she founded the Romantic Novelists' Association and also was the first elected Chairman (1961-1963).