Morna Stuart

Morna Stuart (19051972) was a writer of several plays and books. Her best-known work today is Marassa and Midnight, a young-adult novel that tells the story of twin boys from Haiti separated during the French Revolution. During her lifetime, however, she received the most publicity for her play Traitor's Gate, a work on the life of Thomas More.

Biography Information on Stuart's life is sparse. She was born in Nainital, Kumaon, India in 1905 and attended St. Michael's School and St Anne's College (both in Oxford). Her first book, The Children of Aries, was published under the pseudonym C.J. Campbell in 1925. as well as a scriptwriter for the BBC. The topics of these programs included literary interpretations of historical figures (Thomas Paycocke, St. Francis of Assisi), adaptations of novels (Cry, the Beloved Country, Moonfleet), and lectures on the Pickwick Papers and the Bayeux Tapestry.

Marassa and Midnight, written in 1966 and published in 1968, is the story of two twins from Haiti separated during the French and Haitian revolutions. Kirkus Reviews found the title characters to be "magnificent", but opined that the story itself was "not strong enough to sustain them". Stuart dedicated the book to Harry Lockwood West, a British actor. In a modern critique of reviews of the time, Maggie Gale states that it was criticized for taking "liberties with the facts" while simultaneously being lauded for its "theatrical value". and was translated into Indonesian in 1968.

Stuart's other works include the books Till She Stoop (1935) and Nightrider (1934), as well as Michaelangelo's Confession of Faith, a poem set to music by William H Harris (1935). Other works include the plays Mesmer: A fantasy based on the legend of Franz Anton Mesmer (1946) and The Masque of the King's Making (1949). The latter was written specially for a festival held in October 1949 in honor of Alfred the Great and was performed by the College Dramatic Society of King's College, Taunton.

Personal life Stuart married Montagu Richmond Nicholas in Jul-Sep 1927 in Brixworth, Northamptonshire. He was a barrister and then a judge in the civil court of London. They had one son Oliver Richmond Nicholas born 1928.

In 1962 they visited Haiti so that she could gather material about the period of the Haitian Revolution for her book Marassa and Midnight.