Shirley Seifried Allen, 1921-2013
BOOKS BY SHIRLEY S. ALLEN
ROXANNA BRITTON: A BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
“Jane Austen meets Little House on the Prairie“
The true tale of a powerful woman who pioneered the American West: Anne’s great-great grandmother, Roxanna Britton, born in Western Reserve, Ohio in 1833. This gripping novel based on Roxanna’s extraordinary life was written by Anne’s mother, novelist and scholar, Shirley S. Allen. Widowed as a young mother, Roxanna breaks through traditional barriers by finding a husband of her own choice, developing her own small business, and in 1865, becoming one of the first married women to own property. We follow her through the hard times of the Civil War to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to a homestead in Nebraska to her final home in Elsinore, California.
“This has become one of my all time favorite stories of “real” people. Ms. Allen’s adept use of dialogue and her clear eye for drama and suspense kept me compulsively turning the pages. Her evocation of a bygone era, rich with descriptive details–the historical Chicago fire is one vivid example–is absolutely brilliant. I will never forget Sanny and her family, especially her struggle and her daughters’ struggle to become individuals in a male dominated world. But it is family that triumphs in the end; and the need for it to survive resonates most deeply in my mind and heart. An excellent novel that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading true stories about people who not only overcome adversity with grace and integrity but through strength of character also prevail. Well done, Ms. Shirley Allen!”…author Ann Carbine Best
Roxanna Britton is available as an ebook at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Kobo, Nook, iTunes, Inktera, and Scribd.
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ACADEMIC BODY
A classic cozy mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie
Retired theatrical director Paul Godwin longs for the life of a college professor, but can he woo his famous wife away from the New York stage to become part of his academic life in small-town Maine? Not easily, especially after the dean accuses him of having a fling with a student and then is found dead in circumstances that make Paul a prime suspect in the investigation.Paul’s efforts to discover the real culprit provoke dangerous reprisals, but he must succeed to save his new career, his marriage–and perhaps his life.
“Move over Nick and Nora Charles, there’s a new crime solving couple in town. We’re not talking Manhattan, the Charles’ turf, here, but the rarified world of academia as practiced in the northern wilds of Maine’s Weaver College.
Allen’s book begins with a mystery fan’s I-must-read-this cover. This one features a cozy library, complete with the well shod and very turned up toes of Dean Todd. It seems the dean has a penchant for rooting out faculty secrets that would put any truffle sniffing oinker to shame.
Enter Paul Goodwin, a former theatrical director whose heart problems motivate him to begin a new, less stressful (he thinks) career as a drama professor. His wife Lenore, a Broadway actress, is somewhat less than thrilled at the prospect of life at a small town college.
When someone “offs” the dean, Paul turns amateur sleuth as the finger of suspicion points to him. In this endeavor he’s aided, abetted–and sometimes thwarted–by the lovely Lenore.
The problem is not too few suspects, but too many, including the Dean’s wife, his secretary, a professor who’s an expert in seaweed, a colleague whose husband has a wandering eye, the police chief, and a very nubile co-ed.
I love the sensual aspects of this novel, the circumspect but highly charged sexual chemistry between the couple, the fact that they’re not above tippling a bit and enjoying gourmet meals prepared mostly by Paul himself for the woman he loves.”...Sue McGinty, author of the Bella Kowalski mysteries.
Academic Body is only 99c or the equivalent at all the Amazons, Kobo, and Nook.
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SAMUEL PHELPS AND SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
A biography of one of London’s great 19th century actor-managers.
The definitive study of one of London’s great 19th century actor-managers. This carefully researched and fluently written book covers the full range of Samuel Phelps’ half-century career, with special emphasis on his fruitful decades at Sadler’s Wells and his work as a performer and producer of Shakespearean drama.
Samuel Phelps and Sadler’s Wells Theatre is out of print, but available used from Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble.
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