Beverly Swerling (1938 – 3 December 2018)
[https://www.facebook.com/BeverlySwerling/photos/beverly-swerling-martin-died-on-december-3rd-after-a-diagnosis-of-advanced-pancr/2040290839350373/ ] was an American writer of
historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
.
Biography
Born in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Beverly Swerling grew up in nearby
Revere, Massachusetts living with her parents in the
boarding house they ran.
[''Dayton Daily News'' 14 October 1990 "Footnotes: Danielle Steele finds success with hard work" by Betty Dietz-Krebbs p.7-c] After attending college in
Kansas City (MO) Swerling relocated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to pursue a writing career, working at an
insurance agency
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
until established as a
freelance journalist
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
.
For a time Swerling was the director of a Boston-area
halfway house for female
ex-con
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
s, an experience which formed the basis of her first published book: ''The Love Seekers'', a work of non-fiction published in 1966. ''The Love Seekers'' was credited to Beverly Byrne, which name was also utilized in Swerling's journalistic bylines, Byrne having become Swerling's surname via a brief marriage during a European sojourn.
In 1978, Swerling emigrated, accompanied by William F Martin (born 27 August 1926) of Manhattan whom she had recently married:
the couple would live abroad for some twenty-five years,
originally on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
and eventually on
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...
and on a
houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...
in France.
It was during this period that Swerling became a published novelist with her debut novel: the
whodunit ''Murder on the Menu'', being issued in 1980 as was ''Jemma'', the last-named moving Swerling into the historical fiction genre which would be the mainstay of her novelistic output. These first two novels were both
softcover originals credited to Beverly Byrne: among eight subsequent softcovers "Beverly Byrne" had two novels published in
hardcover
A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...
: ''Women's Rites'' (1985) and ''A Matter of Time'' (1987), and in 1989 Swerling had a third hardcover novel: ''Juffie Kane'' published, that book being credited to Beverly S. Martin. A second Beverly S. Martin novel: ''Mollie Pride'', was published in softcover in 1991.
Almost ten years after the 1992 publication of her final novel as Beverly Byrne, Swerling - now returned to New York City with her husband - had her first novel written as Beverly Swerling appear in 2001, that being ''City of Dreams'', the first of four novels set in New York City from its 17th century founding til the "
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...
": all four novels were originally published as hardcovers, as were two other Beverly Swerling novels.
Having moved from New York City to Philadelphia with her husband,
Swerling subsequent to her husband's 29 January 2015 demise spent her final years in
Woodbury (CT), where she died 3 December 2018 due to
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
.
Publications
;as Beverly Byrne
''ALL TITLES ARE ORIGINAL SOFTCOVERS IF NOT OTHERWISE NOTED''
*''The Love Seekers'' (1966) (hardcover)
*''Murder on the Menu'' (1980)
*''Jemma'' (1980)
*''The Outcast: The Griffin Saga Vol 1'' (1981)
*''The Adventurer: The Griffin Saga Vol 2'' (1982) (aka ''Fiery Splendor'')
*''Women's Rites'' (1985) hardcover : softcover
*''Jason's People'' (1985)
*''A Matter of Time'' (1987) hardcover : softcover
*''Come Sunrise'' (1987)
*''The Morgan Women'' (1990)
*''A Lasting Fire'' (1991) (UK edition in hardcover with )
*''The Flames of Vengeance'' (1991) (UK edition in hardcover with )
*''The Firebirds'' (1991) (UK edition in hardcover with )
;as Beverly S. Martin
*''Juffie Kane'' (1989) hardcover : softcover
*''Mollie Pride'' (1991)
;as Beverly Swerling
''ALL TITLES ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN HARDCOVER''
* trade paperback edition ( ) issued 2002 According to WorldCat, the book is held in 798 libraries
[ WorldCat item record](_blank)
/ref>
* (connected with series) trade paperback edition ( ) issued 2005
* trade paperback edition ( ) issued 2008
*
*
*2013 ''Bristol House'' (NL, ''Tempelcode'')
* According to WorldCat, the book is held in 798 libraries
References
External links
Beverly Swerling's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swerling, Beverly
1938 births
2018 deaths
American historical novelists
American women novelists
Women historical novelists
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women