Janszoon: In the Pursuit of Love, Family, and an Enduring Legacy

(Paperback)

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By day, Humphrey Bogart reads lines for "Casablanca" with Ingrid Bergman; by night, he's drinking bourbon on the Sunset Strip with friends like Peter Lorre and Leslie Howard. Behind closed doors, life is not so glamorous. High-profile fights with his wife Mayo and a rigid studio contract enforcing a series of mediocre films make Bogart feel personally and professionally trapped... until a mysterious note arrives on set.
Heeding the strange invitation, Bogart finds himself in a series of long, secret conversations with his aunt and cousin about the swashbuckling tales of their ancestor, the pirate Jan Janszoon van Salee. These tales of the high seas ignite a fire within Bogart to carve out a path that is uniquely his own- even if it means shedding the roles and people who made him famous.
"Janszoon" is more than a Hollywood fantasy; it's a journey into the heart of a man wrestling with ambitions and desires, an actor who yearns to balance his on-screen personas with his off-screen reality. Covering his tumultuous marriage, infamous USO tour, and his affairs with Verita Patterson and Lauren Bacall, "Janszoon" imagines the enigmatic Humphrey Bogart seeking a legacy that transcends the ephemeral glow of stardom.

Author Bio

Dr. Mark Kraver is an American novelist and United States Air Force Dental Corps veteran. Since his service, he's worked as a General Dentist specializing in craniofacial pain. He now lives on the water in southwest Florida with his wife of 45+ years and a large, undisciplined garden. They also have three grown children, seven grandchildren, and several finished and unfinished historical fiction novels. Dr. Kraver grew up in Florida, where his father was a rocket scientist, and has also lived in Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.