ALICE ANYWAY

FIRST PLACE GRAND PRIZE WINNER FOR FICTION
2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Winner, First Novel (70,000-90,000 words)
Finalist, Female Empowerment

#1 Amazon Bestseller in Women's Historical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction, and Women's Literary Fiction

She was born into silence. Raised on survival. And taught to stay small.
But The Glens had other plans.

In the hills of Appalachia in the 1940s, danger hides behind the language of faith.

Eighteen-year-old Alice has always been the quiet one, watching the world and keeping her secrets close. When grief leaves her alone on the family homestead, a blue-eyed stranger arrives with scripture in his pocket and words that sound like love.

"Have you ever wondered what it means to belong to someone?" he asks, his eyes locked on hers.

Alice swallows. "I... I don't know."

"A woman needs a covering," he tells her. "A man who'll love her, protect her, guide her. You deserve that, Alice."

What begins as comfort soon twists into control. Each choice pulls Alice deeper into a community where obedience is demanded and faith is weaponized. Beneath the rules and whispered warnings, a spark of defiance waits. Small. Steady. Unwilling to be silenced.

To claim her life, Alice must risk everything. Her safety. Her name. Even her soul.

Alice Anyway will resonate with readers who loved Where the Crawdads Sing, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, and The Poisonwood Bible.

Raw and lyrical, Alice Anyway is a haunting Southern literary novel about survival, power, and the quiet, relentless courage it takes to choose freedom.

Brenda K. Thompson is also the author of Ivaleena, set against the vivid backdrop of a 1940s traveling carnival, and A Feed Sack Dress for Sadie, a deeply atmospheric Appalachian novel inspired by the story of a stolen child.