by Adele Myers
Most anticipated by USA Today, W Magazine, New York Post, Parade, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Reader's Digest, and PopSugar and named one of the best historical fiction books of the year by Cosmopolitan!
""A beautifully rendered portrait of a young woman finding her courage and her voice.""—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author
North Carolina, 1946. One woman. A discovery that could rewrite history.
Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who's just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt's glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.
But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn't quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.
Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn't know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.
Shedding light on the hidden history of women's activism during the post-war period, at its heart, The Tobacco Wives is a deeply human, emotionally satisfying, and dramatic novel about the power of female connection and the importance of seeking truth.
"This is a story of courage, of women willing to take a stand in the face of corporate greed, and most definitely a tale for our times." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author
Most anticipated by USA Today, W Magazine, New York Post, Parade, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Reader's Digest, and PopSugar and named one of the best historical fiction books of the year by Cosmopolitan!
""A beautifully rendered portrait of a young woman finding her courage and her voice.""—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author
North Carolina, 1946. One woman. A discovery that could rewrite history.
Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who's just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt's glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.
But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn't quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.
Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn't know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.
Shedding light on the hidden history of women's activism during the post-war period, at its heart, The Tobacco Wives is a deeply human, emotionally satisfying, and dramatic novel about the power of female connection and the importance of seeking truth.
"This is a story of courage, of women willing to take a stand in the face of corporate greed, and most definitely a tale for our times." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author
Reviews-
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November 1, 2021
Myers makes a sparkling debut with a coming-of-age tale about the limited opportunities available to the women of a tobacco town. In the spring of 1947, 15-year-old Maddie Sykes assists her seamstress aunt in Bright Leaf, N.C. When Etta is hospitalized with the measles, Maddie takes over Etta’s client list, sewing gowns for the wives of the top tobacco executives. Mitzy Winston, Etta’s most valued customer and wife of Richard Winston, the president of Bright Leaf Tobacco, takes a maternal interest in Maddie and invites her to live in the Winston home. The teen’s initial enchantment with the town—its seemingly happy workers and uniform prosperity—is dashed when she stumbles on a confidential letter in Richard’s study from a doctor who helped create Bright Leaf’s new MOMints cigarettes, marketed for women, which reveals cigarettes are harmful to pregnant women and infants. Maddie then finds out about a cover-up and begins to recognize that the women around her are being unfairly treated, from factory and field workers to the executives’ wives, whose contributions to the businesses go unpaid, and she considers blowing the whistle about the letter. The ending comes a bit too abruptly, but the fabulous fashion descriptions and Maddie’s unwavering determination more than make up for it. Historical fiction fans will be pleased. Agent: Stefanie Leiberman, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. -
March 1, 2022
In this coming-of-age novel about a teenage seamstress versus Big Tobacco in 1946, 15-year-old Maddie Sykes is a woman ahead of her time. A talented seamstress, she is put in the exalted position of designing gowns for the wives of the tobacco executives to keep her aunt's business afloat. When she catches the eye of the wife of the owner of Bright Leaf Tobacco, Maddie is not only designing outfits for galas but attending them herself. Then she reads about a study showing that tobacco may be unsafe, particularly for pregnant women, yet a new cigarette is being marketed to them. Will Maddie be able to change the tobacco industry without destroying everything that Bright Leaf, NC, is built on? The narration by Shannon McManus and Janet Metzger depicts a Maddie older than her years yet still an idealistic child. Her lovely Southern accent has tremors of insecurity, interspersed with teeth-grinding stubbornness. The "tobacco wives" and other women are characterized with mature voices, smooth as silk and commensurate with their stations, yet still distinct. Maddie cannot go up against the establishment and win. However, it is a satisfying story and delightful to the ear. VERDICT Libraries will want to purchase this debut historical novel.--Jodi L. Israel
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
