Samuel Baskett, growing up in a Dorset rectory, wants to save lives, not souls. Mary Cockram, looking after her animals on the family farm, longs to travel the world. Spanning nearly 60 years of the eighteenth century, Searching for Samuel Baskett is a sweeping family saga, chronicling the lives of the Baskett and Cockram families, their friends, and servants. It tells of their loves and losses, their joys, and tragedies. When Samuel sets up as surgeon, apothecary and 'man-midwife' in the Dorset town of Wareham, he goes against all the accepted practices of the time. He attends births, encourages mothers to breast-feed their babies and tries to convince his patients to give up their old traditional remedies for fits and fevers. The novel covers many issues still relevant today - vaccination, slavery, and the role of women in society. Samuel meets a local farmer, Benjamin Jesty, who used matter from cowpox to inoculate his family, years before Jenner. And Mary sets up a school for girls, providing lessons in mathematics and 'natural philosophy'. Samuel Baskett's signature inside an old 1766 dictionary inspired Rosemary Allen to investigate further. The family trees she built up from Dorset parish records form the skeletal structure of the novel; she just had to put flesh on the bones in the form of a fictional narrative.
Allen Marks Book order






- 2023
- 2018
Knot My Sister's Keeper
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
In tracing her ancestry, quilter Martha Rose discovers a ritzy half-sister, a stash of family secrets, and a decades-old mystery that only she can unravel . . . Martha Rose is shocked to find she has a half-sister, especially one so different from her. Giselle Cole is wealthy, widowed, and lives a glamorous life in West Los Angeles. At least her grandmother was a quilter! But Giselle can’t answer Martha’s many questions about their father—he disappeared when she was only a child and the few clues left behind indicate he may have been murdered. So Martha and Giselle team up on an investigation that weaves them through the streets of L.A., their father’s hidden love affairs, and into some mysterious unfinished Cole family business . . . Praise for Mary Marks and her Quilting Mysteries “A pleasurable and satisfying addition to any quilting mystery fan’s reading list. Recommend to those who cannot get enough of Terri Thayer, Elizabeth Craig, or Earlene Fowler.” —Library Journal on Knot in My Backyard “Readers will be surprised by the ending.” —RT Book Reviews on Knot What You Think
- 2017
Knot What You Think
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
The newest member of Martha’s close-knit quilting circle has an eye for couture. But when the designer’s fingerprints are found blanketing a crime scene, Martha must prove that he didn’t have a hand in homicide! Martha Rose is alarmed by the discovery of Dolleen Doyle’s dead body, especially when evidence suggests a fellow quilter committed the crime. Set on clearing her pal, Martha searches for answers—but with ties to a convicted fraudster’s stolen millions and a secret office room, the victim’s past raises even more questions. As Martha inches towards the culprit, she learns that wrapping the case up—and living to baste another square—will be trickier than she ever imagined . . . Praise for Mary Marks and her Quilting Mysteries “Characters are brilliantly written in entertaining situations . . . Gone are the stereotypes of mature women expected to stay at home and knit quietly by the fire.” —RT Book Reviews on Gone but Knot Forgotten “A pleasurable and satisfying addition to any quilting mystery fan’s reading list. Recommend to those who cannot get enough of Terri Thayer, Elizabeth Craig, or Earlene Fowler.” —Library Journal on Knot in My Backyard
- 2017
Published 2017. Upper Intermediate CEF level B2 - 1,800 Headwords Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience. Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills. Experts recognize Oxford Bookworms as the most consistent series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story - very important for fluent reading and extensive reading. There's a wide choice of titles too - something for everyone. After dinner we turned the lights out and played 'hide-and-seek'. In the dark, I touched a hand, a very cold hand. Now, because of the game, I had to hide in the dark with . . . with this cold person - not speaking, not knowing who it was. Slowly the others found us, hid with us, until we were all there - all thirteen. Thirteen? But there were only twelve people in the house! We touched each other in the dark, counting. Thirteen. Quickly, nervously, I lit a match to see . . .
- 2016
Published 2016. Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for secondary and adult students the Oxford Bookworms Library has seven reading levels from A1-C1 of the CEFR. Listen along with downloadable MP3 audio. I can drive a truck,' says Kim on her first day at work in the office. When Kim's passenger Andy finds something strange under the truck things get dangerous - very dangerous.
- 2016
Published2016. Beginner to Elementary CEF level A1/A2 - 400 Headwords Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience. Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills. Experts recognize Oxford Bookworms as the most consistent series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story - very important for fluent reading and extensive reading. There's a wide choice of titles too - something for everyone. Everybody wants to win the lottery. A million pounds, perhaps five million, even ten million. How wonderful! Emma Carter buys a ticket for the lottery every week, and puts the ticket carefully in her bag. She is seventy-three years old and does not have much money. She would like to visit her son in Australia, but aeroplane tickets are very expensive. Jason Williams buys lottery tickets every week too. But he is not a very nice young man. He steals things. He hits old ladies in the street, snatches their bags and runs away . . .
- 2016
Published 2016. Elementary to Pre-Intermediate CEF level A2/B1 - 700 Headwords Oxford Bookworms enjoy a world-wide reputation for high-quality storytelling and a great reading experience. Research shows reading a lot improves all your language skills. Experts recognize Oxford Bookworms as the most consistent series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story - very important for fluent reading and extensive reading. There's a wide choice of titles too - something for everyone. One day, a farmer tells a farm boy to take everything out of an old building and throw it away. 'It's all rubbish,' he says. In the middle of all the rubbish, the boy finds a beautiful old piano. He has never played before, but now, when his fingers touch the piano, he begins to play. He closes his eyes and the music comes to him - and the music moves his fingers. When he opens his eyes again, he knows that his life is changed for ever...
- 2016
Something's Knot Kosher
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Funerals can be patchy affairs for Martha Rose and her close-knit circle of friends--especially in the case of a missing body. . .When Birdie Watson's husband Russell is killed during a bank robbery, Martha just wants to support her grieving friend. But en route to the burial plot in Oregon, Martha makes a harrowing discovery about the casket's contents--instead of Russell, she finds an unidentified man. Now Martha and her quilting klatch can't rest in peace until they unspool the truth behind the macabre mix up. . .Praise for Knot in My Backyard"A pleasurable and satisfying addition to any quilting mystery fan's reading list. Recommend to those who cannot get enough of Terri Thayer, Elizabeth Craig, or Earlene Fowler." --Library Journal
- 2016
These imaginative graded stories and factual writing relate to young learners own experiences and provide a delightful introduction to reading.
- 2007
Oxford Bookworms Library: Level 1:: The Lottery Winner
- 56 pages
- 2 hours of reading
Everybody wants to win the lottery. A million pounds, perhaps five million, even ten million. How wonderful! Emma Carter buys a ticket for the lottery every week, and puts the ticket carefully in her bag. She is seventy-three years old and does not have much money. She would like to visit her son in Australia, but aeroplane tickets are very expensive. Jason Williams buys lottery tickets every week too. But he is not a very nice young man. He steals things. He hits old ladies in the street, snatches their bags and runs away . . .