"In his debut novel, FERTILE GROUND, Penn Stewart brings the past alive with the nuances of felt experience, providing the present with a resonance that makes us understand that no single person or individual country or culture stands alone. This is a riveting tale, a journey into a family facing chaos while it is taken apart piece by piece in the midst of World War II, dismantling not only the immigrant's dream of America, but also forcing them to forfeit every other dream too as they cling desperately to the shards that remain of themselves and each other. This novel possesses the kind of psychological insight only the best and truest writers can achieve as the plot twists and turns around the issues of loyalty and sabotage, home and homeland, family and its members. Penn Stewart writes with moral intelligence and fierce love of his characters embattled within their adopted country and trapped by the secrets lodged in their individual hearts." --Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife
"FERTILE GROUND is an ambitious novel set in the first months of WW II in a small town in upstate New York and North Dakota. It centers on a German immigrant family and the mystery of whether the husband is a Nazi sympathizer. Penn has created vivid characters, in particular the main character of Lucy, who struggles to believe her husband even as doubts pile up about his loyalty to the United States; when her husband is sent to an internment camp, Lucy must struggle with rumors that abound about her husband's whereabouts, the prejudice of the community towards her, and her challenges of raising two sons in her husband s absence. The novel is dramatically suspenseful, its ethical issues complex and provocative. It works as a riveting mystery novel as well as a thoughtful and perceptive exploration of loyalty and betrayal." --Judy Slater, author of The Baby Can Sing" and other Stories
"In FERTILE GROUND, Penn Stewart expertly builds suspense with quiet gestures, articulating a family's fears and anxieties in the face of invasion, their small, simple lives suddenly complicated by world politics. A riveting mystery carries through this warm, heartfelt story of family, memory, and seeking forgiveness." --Timothy Schaffert- author of The Swan Gondola
"A rich, vital story of the home front. FERTILE GROUND explores a little-known chapter of WWII history--the internment of German-Americans at a remote camp in North Dakota. This richly detailed novel takes us inside the marriage of Hans and Lucy Muller, where love and betrayal co-exist."-- Cary Holladay, author of Horse People: Stories
