Set in the south in 1946, 15 year old Maddie is left with her Aunt Etta when her father dies in the war. Options are limited for women in those days with most if not all women being reliant upon finding a man to marry. It’s the days of weddings including the vow women must take “to love, cherish, and to obey.” Maddie is young but fortunate to have a strong independent Aunt who has taught her useful skills as a seamstress. Maddie is a likeable person along with many others in Adele Myers book. She works hard and questions things.

I really enjoyed being introduced to the tobacco wives, glamorous women married to the most wealthy and powerful men in the tobacco industry. It’s fascinating to think that despite their wealth and privilege, they, like most women in the 1940s South, were powerless in many ways. This is a story about the workers, women and corporate greed.

I’m amazed by the immense pride that people felt back then about helping to build “the tobacco capital of the South.” In hindsight, it’s hard to believe that they didn’t know about the dangers of smoking, but during those years they truly had no idea. What was it like for them, I wondered, to have such pride in their work and community, only to learn that they were manufacturing products that made people sick, even killed them?

I want to thank Adele Myers for sharing a story inspired by her family’s past. The characters she created pop off the pages of her book. I’m left with a meaningful reminder to think for myself and not simply rely on the snazzy marketing companies put out to sell goods.

Thank you also NetGalley for this advanced reading copy. It was most enjoyable.

A cleverly crafted story set in Bright Leaf, NC during the mid-1940's.

Maddie, just fifteen, has lost her father in the war and her mother dumps her off on Aunt Etta, while she goes looking for a sugar daddy. Maddie discovers her strengths during this turmoil in her life. Bright Leaf is tobacco country and Etta is the dressmaker for the town's wealthy wives of the industry. Tagging along with Etta, Maddie gets to see both worlds - the glittery and the gritty - when she visits the tobacco wives and the female cigarette factory workers,

Etta falls ill, leaving Maddie to finish her dress appointments and make the gowns for the town's biggest gala.
Maddie gets to know the women of Bright Leaf and learn their strengths. However, she soon discovers a secret, why the local babies are having health problems - and she struggles to figure out who to trust to get more answers and bring this problem to light.

This story has powerful women leaders and shows their activism, trying to unionize to keep their jobs when the men come back from war. It's a very entertaining story with depth. Very enjoyable read. The author's first book - I'm excited to see what else comes from her.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Post World War II Bright Leaf, North Carolina is a town reaping the rewards of Big Tobacco. Budding seamstress Maddie Sykes has just arrived in town and is awed by the beauty of the homes, the women and the riches available after years of scrimping and saving. As Maddie settles in with her dressmaking aunt, she finds herself in a position to make dresses for some of the wealthiest women in town, the wives of the tobacco executives. Maddie’s dream is threatened when she discovers that the cigarettes everyone is smoking, the cigarettes that are powering the economy of Bright Leaf are potentially dangerous, even lethal. This is a fascinating look at a time when smoking was considered glamorous, even healthy by many

Fascinating novel of the tobacco industry in the south during the much pushed advertising to smoke cigarettes. A young teenage girl goes to stay with her grand aunt to help out with her seamstress business and prepare for the big rollout of a new mint cigarette. What she finds out will change her feelings on the tobacco business for the rest of her life. Definitely will recommend. , Truly amazing to read about the ads that smoking was good for you!