Stewart's Camp, California, is just a tiny, rusty place, forgotten amongst the hills of the Gold Country, but it's also a town with a past. And the past tends to visit the present-with or without invitation.New to Stewart's Camp is Lauren Fischer, idealistic suburbanite nurse. She's dreamt of owning an old house-something with character. Now, thanks to an unexpected inheritance from an eccentric neighbor, she has one. Sort of.
It's bigger than she pictured it, filthy, run-down, packed with junk, and soaked in foreboding, but Lauren won't be deterred. She is determined to clean up the mess and find her place in this community of colorful and endearingly flawed individuals.
But Lauren's plans are disrupted by the return to town of a very different sort of woman. Gwendolyn Jurkovich-Fletcher/Baboescu/Barnes is a high-class madam and cutthroat businesswoman with her own claim to the old Stewart Mansion. She has plans for the place as well, plans that will force Lauren to fight for her inheritance and plans that could push Stewart's Camp to its breaking point and put it on course toward the reenactment of a dark past.
K. E. Thompson's debut novel and the first in the Stewart's Camp Saga, Marble and Mud explores a world of dark redemption and earthy transcendence deeply rooted in place and time. Thompson believes in maximizing the page-turning power of a good plot without sacrificing depth or the extraordinary power of fiction to tell the complicated truth.
Review :
"Loved this book! It was an immersive read that I couldn't put down." --Alica Leupp Hanley
"Thompson's story reflects an uncommon depth of development, resulting in a delightful blend of legend and real life. The small town quirkiness was familiar and amusing. But Thompson's patient navigation of deeper themes, including fear, grace, and restoration, reveal her wisdom. This is where she shines: by weaving a story whose tension keeps you locked in while raising questions truly worth pondering. A wonderful read." --Nathan Oates
"I was intrigued the whole time." --Claire Stevens
"... a fun story, with unanticipated plot twists that keep you wondering what's going to happen next." --Barbara Leak
