This is a review for Audrey – A Cherished Memory which I was sent a copy of in exchange for my thought. The thoughts in this post are all mine and no, one else.
Not only my daughter but my Uncle Chuck loved Audrey Hepburn and would watch her movies over and over. It was there dream to meet her in person one day.
I just wish they was here to read Audrey – A Cherished Memory and to be able to see what it was like to meet Audrey both as a child and a adult and a Actress.
Through the novel Audrey – A Cherished Memory and getting to know Audrey I felt like I was there in person and that we would have been very good friends.
If you like Audrey Hepburn or not you should take the time to read Audrey – A Cherished Memory because you will find yourself in a time gone by and be able to relive parts of History.
Audrey – A Cherished Memory – is John’s flashback to how he met the late famous movie star during World War II in Holland in 1943 when she was still a 13-year old girl. He was 7.
For a reason unbeknownst to him, she left an indelible mark on his memory, and he always wanted to see her again. It was a dream come true when that happened in Switzerland much later in his life when she had become the beloved star of everyone, Audrey Hepburn.
Some rare photographs of pre-fame Audrey are attached.
Audrey – A Cherished Memory – a personal memory from a World War II kid, republished to support the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund. “An engaging story from start to finish.
Evocative of a particular time and place but ultimately timeless and universal in touching the human heart.” Mark Spencer. Published by Sun Hill Books 12/2017.
Other novels published by: John Schwartz
Fiction:- Enchanting the Swan
![Enchanting the Swan by [Schwartz, John]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NXSG4DydL._SY346_.jpg)
Enchanting the Swan, a contemporary love story, intertwines the elegance of classical music and the tawdriness of corrupt banking, playing out on the campus of the College of William & Mary and in the major financial centers of Brussels, Geneva, and New York
Written for lovers of classical musicians and love stories. “A very enjoyable read. Could make a great movie” – Neal Cary. “A Fine Romantic Thriller” – Daniel Dwyer. “A heartbreaking Love Story.” Vera Wilson. A reprint published by Sun Hill Books – 2018 (KINDLE) Paperback
– Francine – Dazzling Daughter of the Mountain State
Kirkus Review: “A lively composition…” “In Schwartz’s (Some Women I Know, 2014 etc.) novel, a passion for music brings together a young couple, though they discover that the path to true love can hit quite a few dissonant notes.
Paul Cramer, a classical pianist and MBA student, and Fiona de Maconville, a Belgian cellist studying law, fall for each other as they play duets at Virginia’s William & Mary College.
Cramer hopes that the piece that brings them together, “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens, won’t be, well, the swan song of the relationship. Attempts to keep the fire stoked are dampened when Fiona’s godparents abruptly summon her back to her native Belgium.
With oblique references to the wishes of Fiona’s dead parents, the guardians also smother any hopes Paul and Fiona might harbor of getting together.
Paul is just a commoner, not nobility, he is reminded. His Americanizes further compounds things; after all, Fiona is only meant to marry another Belgian.
Despite these discouraging developments, Paul lands a banker’s job in Europe, which allows him to chase his love, all while encountering a host of interesting characters along the way…
The various moneyed people, their elaborately appointed living quarters and their high-wheeling lifestyle add a dash of pizzazz…”
But at work, Paul gets entangled in a dramatic banking fraud. He is forced to return to the USA, where he finds Fiona physically and psychologically abused and on the verge of utter despair. Paul endeavors to restore their love but faces harrowing obstacles. Will they ever play The Swan again?
A corporate novel chronicles a young woman’s meteoric rise at an international mining company. A dramatically taut tale propelled by artful characterization and political relevance. (Kirkus Reviews). Published by Sun Hill Books 12/2017 –paperback) and (Kindle version).
Read on how this story came about.
Memoir:
“A Wistful Memoir” (Kirkus Reviews). Published by Sun Hill Books, 2018. (Kindle) and (paperback)
Romantic pianist John Van Dorn confuses playing sheet music with playing between the sheets. His strong anchors in life, his grandmother, Lady D, and Audrey Hepburn, with whom he rides on his pony wagon in Holland during World War II, she 13 and he 7, seem unable to prevent him from falling for the “weaker” sex.
After learning the basic pitfalls of engaging with girls while growing up in his village, enjoying country life and horses, he plays piano with his first real love, cellist Lucy, during boarding school, shares amour and piano with sensual concert pianist student, Geneviève, in Paris, gets hooked by sneaky Irene in Amsterdam who labors hard to persuade him to marry her, and suffers his most heartbroken love with Viking Ingrid in the Swiss Alps.
After rescuing princess Nyira in the middle of Africa from despair in a narrow escape of life and death, he finally finds the Joy of his life in Washington, D.C.
Each tale can be read in one sitting. So, relax and enjoy with a lush glass of wine, a smooth VSOP brandy or a cup of mellow cappuccino, and smile, drop a tear or hold your breath.
Non-Fiction:
Maarten Maartens Rediscovered Part I and II
Maarten Maartens (1858-1915), the pseudonym of Dutch author Jozua Marius Willem van der Poorten Schwartz, who wrote in English, received honorary degrees for his work from Aberdeen University in 1905 and Western Pennsylvania University-now Pitt University-in 1907.
President Theodore Roosevelt received him and his daughter Ada at the White House for a private discussion at that time. In this second book, His Best Short Stories, John Schwartz summarizes Maarten Maarten’s four volumes of short story collections, published between 1889 and 1912, using much of Maartens’ own writing to give today’s readers a chance to savor his exceptional writing skills.
In 1914, Ezzard Nidden, a British critic, made the following remark: “Since Tolstoy died, only one great epic writer is left to us-Maarten Maartens.” And critic Hoyt said that “Every thinker should have on his shelves Goethe, Schiller, Maartens.”
In his monumental “History of English Literature,” Dr. Anton Lohr ranks Maartens among the highest: “His works stand alone in the English Literature of the day. But this great writer belongs to the literature of Europe.”
An oddly compelling summarization of a forgotten writer’s works” (Kirkus Reviews).Published by Willow Manor Publishing, 2015/2016
FB:
Tw: @johnschwartz58
He also published, in 2017, a booklet entitled ‘Audrey – A cherished Memory‘, which is an updated excerpt of the Audrey Hepburn chapters in ‘Some Women I Have Known‘ (see below), in support of the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund
“Some Women I Have Known” (published in May 2015), his first book, was inspired by a bet with a cousin, Anne van der Laan, that they could write as well as their great-uncle Josua van der Poorten Schwartz, who wrote in English and became world famous around the 19th/20th century under the pen name of Maarten Maartens.
He was even received by President Ted Roosevelt at the White House in 1907 to talk about his books. One of his volumes of short stories was titled “Some Women I have Known.” The cousins “stole” their uncle’s title to write stories about exceptional and not so exceptional women they had met while growing up. When Anne prematurely died, John wrote it by himself. The bet is still on.
The title of his second novel “Enchanting The Swan” (also published in 2015) was born at a writing retreat with Michael Neff. The troubled love story of the two main characters, a handsome French-American pianist and a beautiful Belgian cellist, both graduate students at William & Mary, grew from the author’s passion for playing classical piano and jazz and listening to chamber music. The novel also reveals his aversion to conformism in nobility and their greed, a world with which the author is quite familiar, and his dislike of overbearing men and women.
“Enchanting The Swan” was reissued by Sun Hill Books as a paperback and Kindle reprint with a new cover on December 8, 2018.
His third novel, “Francine – Dazzling Daughter of the Mountain State,” (published by Sun Hill Books in December 2017, both in paperback and KDP Kindle), heralds Francine Boyer’s climb of the corporate ladder in a New York-based international mining conglomerate.
Born and grown-up in West Virginia, she is the patron of the coal miners and beats the EPA and environmental overachievers in their own game. Why coal and not jewelry? Why “anti-liberal”? Because Francine’s story needed to be told! Kirkus called it “A dramatically taut tale propelled by artful characterization and political relevance.”
Turning to non-fiction, John wanted to present his great-uncle’s authorship to today’s readers, by summarizing his thirteen novels and four volumes of short stories, using the author’s own writing. Part I (The Novels) was published in August 2015 under the title “Maarten Maartens Rediscovered – The most Popular Dutch Author Abroad,” and Part II (His Best Short Stories) in May 2016. Both books have been republished by Sun Hill Books in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and are available on IngramSpark.
Writings in the pipeline are a volume of short stories and a fourth novel, telling the fate of three wealthy brothers of a famed family who self-destruct, with a surprising twist in the family’s rebirth.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
