Brenda K. Thompson has always listened closely to the spaces between words — the quiet places where stories take root. Long before she began writing fiction, she was listening for voices in the walls of old houses, the hum of time in weathered wood, the hush of secrets waiting to be told.
Her path to fiction began with words and storytelling. After many years on Wall Street, she returned to her Southern roots in the mountains of North Carolina, where she founded Special “Finds…”, a marketing agency devoted to telling the stories of unique and historic homes. Through that work, she discovered how narrative and place could transform perception — a skill that now shapes her novels.
Brenda’s debut novel, Alice Anyway, is a #1 Bestseller in Women’s Historical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction, and Women’s Literary Fiction. Readers call her “a gifted writer with an insight that is seldom expressed so eloquently” and praise her “lyrical writing that made me reread whole paragraphs in appreciation.” Set in 1940s Kentucky, the novel follows a young woman navigating grief, control, and self-discovery. With prose that lingers and characters who stay with you, Brenda’s fiction invites readers into worlds of resilience, belonging, and transformation — places where even the quietest voice can rise.
Today, Brenda lives with her husband, Jim, on the North Carolina coast. She writes overlooking a wide river, drawing inspiration from foxes, owls, herons, and the persistence of wild things.
