The Tobacco Wives: A Novel

4 StarsThis four-star historical fiction was so beautifully written and well done. It is hard to imagine that it was Adele Myers’s first novel.SUMMARYWith World War II completed and soldiers heading home, lots of changes are taking place on the homefront. 15-year-old Maddie lost her father in the war. Her mother, who is not handling it well, decided it was time to find a new husband to take care of her. She pulled Maddie out if her bed, with her nightgown on, in the middle of the night and dropped her on the front porch of her beloved Aunt Etta with no warning. She literally pulled Maddie out of bed in the middle of the night and drove her cross the state of North Carolina.Aunt Etta is a well-known seamstress for the “tobacco wives” in the fictional town of Brightleaf, North Carolina. The economy of Brightleaf is 100% reliant on the tobacco industry. When Maddie is dumped on Etta’s front porch, it's Etta’s busiest time of year. Etta is about to start fittings for the tobacco wives for Brightleaf’s biggest social event of the year. She will be doing nothing but designing and creating the dresses for these women for the next couple of months. When Etta unexpectedly becomes ill, the job falls to Maddie. How will Maddie pull off filling Etta’s shoes??? And, to complicate matters even more Maddie accidentally comes across some information that could change everything for the town of Brightleaf. She has to grow up very quickly and make some very grown-up decisions.<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>Wow, it is so hard to imagine the world the way it was before people knew the dangers of smoking. It only seems logical to us now that filling your lungs with smoke, nicotine and chemicals is not good for you, and it's terrible for pregnant women and babies. It’s so hard to imagine the doctors actually recommended that women smoke to “calm their nerves.” Crazy! This book takes us back to the time when that was totally and completely acceptable. It is also almost shocking the way women were treated; the way men condescended to them and treated them as if they were fragile little beings who could not do much. We have come such a long way. I love the way the book highlighted all of the social differences between that time and the present.I love the way Myers immerses us into the world of the tobacco wives, how they were literally celebrities in this small southern town. She seamlessly weaves in societal changes happening after World War II and how the women gained confidence from earning a living. I felr like I was in Brightleaf, NC in the summer of 1946.Etta and Maddie spent the summer making dresses. I love the descriptions of the fabulous glamorous dresses women used to wear to parties. People just don’t really dress like that anymore. It was so fun to hear all about the lovely dresses.The plot itself was well done. It kept me reading nonstop until the end. I love a book with an epilogue that tied things up in the end and this book delivered on that. It is so hard to imagine that this was Adele Myers first book. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.WHAT I DIDN’T LOVEThe very end of the book, aside from the epilogue felt of rushed to me. After the big event, I kind of felt a little deprived of the rest of the ending. I'm glad there was an epilogue, but the final chapter or two could have been expanded.OVERALLFantastic book! Believe the high ratings. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction or a coming of age story.

Good story about the tobacco industry in the Carolinas...the family empires it built, the workers' lives, the small towns, the medical research, the bonds of family, and the secrets kept.If have you read novels by Lauren Denton, Cathy Horton, Fannie Flagg, or Kathryn Stockett you will find this one very interesting.P.S. I participated in a zoom w the author (via the Gwinnett Public Library system) before I read her book. She was so interesting; shared her research methods and creative strategies.

I really enjoyed this one. Live in NC which made it even more interesting but loved the characters ans story. Well written and if you listen to audible the narrators were fantastic!

Keeps you interested and on your toes.Great spring or summer read as well.Would recommend to friends and family.

It’s a quick beach read, but probably more suited for a YA audience. Many basic story elements are outlandish & unrealistic - including the basic premise that a 15-year-old beginner seamstress could/would take over for her aunt designing & sewing all the couture gowns for the society ladies of Bright Leaf, a couple weeks after her arrival in town…& finish them pretty much single-handedly within a few weeks’ time.Basically, I just wish the book had gone into more detail & presented a more complete picture of pretty much everything — including the racial disparities of the workers, the personalities of the characters, the practices of the tobacco companies & the role it played in society, etc. the current version just felt like something of a short caricature. I think the author had (or may someday have) the skill to provide more depth than she did here.

I finished The Tobacco Wives in two days, while spring-break vacationing. The Tobacco Wives kept me turning each page anxiously awaiting what would happen. I loved Maddie and her spunky, feisty self in a world set in Big Leaf North Carolina, a Tobacco capitol town that brings Maddie's dreams, wants and desires to full-circle. After being left at her great Aunt Etta's by her mother in a mad rush to seek a new life after her father dies in the War, Maddie's relationship with her Great Aunt takes on a whole new appearance. The clientele that Etta serves designing designer gowns and attire to blend into their wealthy lives introduces Maddie to a female world of demanding personalities of women who yearn to hold their affluent Mrs. titles intact in Big Leaf. The summers Maddie has spent with her Great Aunt are brought full-circle when she learns to become a business woman herself. The love interest she discovers doesn't stop her from becoming a new Maddie. The female characters, Cornelia and Mitzy, are main forces who lend opportunities for Maddie to enter a phase of her life to become self-sufficient, when she discovers things are not always as they seem, and she has enough spit-fire and assertiveness to move the tobacco town into a new direction.As a native of Western Kentucky who was reared on a dark-fired tobacco farm, I commend Ms. Myers for a wonderful coming-of-age story. This is such a hidden industry and finding a novel with all the ingredients to keep turning the pages is a huge compliment to Ms. Myers.On another note, my 81 year old mother, just finished the book in two days. She also couldn't put it down. I still think about all the characters, and now, wonder about the Maddies in the world. I was a young Maddie on our tobacco farm, wondering about life beyond the tobacco fields. As a mother of two daughters--I highly recommend The Tobacco Wives. It's a keeper long after the last page is read!Sherry Newsome Purdom

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