The Tobacco Wives

The Tobacco Wives (2022) is a historical fiction novel by Adele Myers set in 1946 North Carolina, where a young seamstress named Maddie Sykes becomes entangled in the secrets of the powerful Big Tobacco empire while navigating the societal expectations of the post-World War II (WWII) South. The Tobacco Wives explores themes such as Societal Constraints and Female Empowerment, The Contrast Between the Opulent Façade and Hidden Realities of Society, and The Moral Dilemma of Uncovering Uncomfortable Truths.

This guide references the 2023 William Morrow paperback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source material contains discussion of miscarriage and racism.

Plot Summary

The Tobacco Wives takes place in 1946 from the first-person perspective of 15-year-old Maddie Sykes, who is startled awake in the middle of the night by her Momma, Grace. Maddie reflects on her mother’s increased instability and unpredictable behavior following the death of Maddie’s father, Jack, whose plane was shot down during WWII. Grace is resentful that her husband enlisted in the army and then died, and she is determined to remarry in order to help lift the family out of financial ruin. Maddie is a talented seamstress who dreams of earning a college education and making something of her life outside of the rural holler of Pine Mountain, North Carolina, where she lives. Her world is disrupted when Momma tells her to quickly pack a bag; Maddie obeys, leaving the house in only her nightgown, and the two travel by car to Bright Leaf, North Carolina, where Maddie’s great-aunt Etta is a celebrated local seamstress. Maddie realizes that she is being dropped off alone, and although Aunt Etta is surprised by the visit, she gladly welcomes Maddie.

Etta is in her busiest dressmaking season; the tobacco harvest means glitzy social gatherings for her wealthy clients, whom she calls the tobacco wives. These women are married to the biggest tobacco executives of the Bright Leaf Tobacco Company, a large manufacturing presence in the town around which everything centers. The wives’ social engagements mean that the demand for custom dresses by Aunt Etta is high, and Maddie’s training under Aunt Etta during previous summers will be valuable. As Maddie prepares for her first dress fitting with the wealthy Mrs. Elizabeth “Mitzy” Winston, Maddie runs into Etta’s romantic partner, Frances, though Maddie is unaware of the nature of their relationship at this point. Mitzy immediately takes a liking to Maddie and invites her to an upcoming town event to promote tobacco, the Summer Solstice. Etta and Maddie visit Bright Leaf Tobacco headquarters and Maddie witnesses the factory conditions that go into manufacturing the newest product, MOMints, which is a mint-flavored cigarette targeted specifically at women and advertised by the town’s most prominent wives. With the town’s men away for the war, women have taken over the labor at the factory, and the dangerous conditions have put their health and well-being at risk. Maddie also reunites with an old friend, Anthony, who handles alterations at the factory.

Maddie attends the Summer Solstice and meets some important people in the town, including one of the founding families, the Hales, as well as Mitzy’s sister, Ashley. Mitzy is married to the president of Big Leaf Tobacco, Richard Winston. Dr. Robert Hale is a local physician who helped to create MOMints. Maddie rides the Ferris wheel with Mitzy’s godson, David, who soon becomes Maddie’s love interest. The next day, Etta is hospitalized with measles and entrusts Maddie with designing, constructing, and fitting gowns for the wives ahead of a large fundraiser later that summer called the Gala. Maddie must then find a way to take on a considerable amount of work. Mitzy insists that Maddie stay at the Winston home and sets up a studio for her. Maddie enlists Anthony’s help with sewing gowns for the clients, and during a visit with Cornelia and Rose Hale, Cornelia gives Maddie a book about women’s unrecognized accomplishments in the American South.

Maddie realizes that a paper she found in the trash and used as scrap paper was in fact a confidential letter from Dr. Hale to Mr. Winston. The letter details new medical studies out of Sweden that prove the dangers of smoking on maternal health, resulting in high levels of stillbirth, miscarriage, and low birth weight in babies. Maddie is shocked at this information and unsure what to do with the knowledge. Determined to learn more about Dr. Hale and Mr. Winston, she attends a strike meeting held by the female factory workers who intend to organize and leverage their collective power to fight for job security. At the strike meeting, she unexpectedly sees Ashley, who gives her a ride home and shares about her belief in women’s independence.

Maddie is plagued by her knowledge of the letter. While she attends events like church services and a Fourth of July party with the Winstons and grows closer to David, she becomes increasingly uncomfortable while also balancing dressmaking ahead of the Gala. She learns that Mitzy is pregnant and accompanies her to the hospital during a health scare. There, Maddie witnesses each pregnant mom smoking in her hospital bed and a large number of sick babies in incubators at the hospital. Dr. Hale encourages Mitzy to rest and hands her a pack of MOMints to help her relax. This experience pushes Maddie to the edge and causes her to confide in Anthony and David about the letter. At first disbelieving her, they agree to help her uncover more information. They devise a plan to have David, who has asthma, attend a doctor’s visit with Dr. Hale under false pretenses to ask about the dangers of smoking. When Dr. Hale uncovers the real reason for their visit, he is rattled by their knowledge of the studies and corners Maddie. He threatens to withdraw medical care for Etta and ruin her career if Maddie doesn’t turn over the letter. Maddie finds an advertising plan that Richard created in response to the studies to increase positive public perception of the cigarettes. She goes to Aunt Etta in the hospital and tells her and Frances about the study, advertising plan, and Dr. Hale. They encourage her to share the news with Mitzy so that she can confront her husband. When she does, Richard is dismissive and angry, but Mitzy assures Maddie that she will handle it.

At the Gala, Mitzy takes the podium in front of a large crowd and announces a new set of initiatives that will bring women to the forefront of leadership at Bright Leaf Tobacco. She, along with Ashley and Cornelia, will take seats on the board of directors and ensure that the female factory workers can keep their jobs. Maddie is disappointed and angry that Mitzy failed to expose the news of the medical studies and the dangers to women and babies to the guests. Mitzy hopes that Maddie can understand that she felt she had limited choices and did the best she could.

In the novel’s epilogue set 44 years later, when Big Tobacco executives were facing legal ramifications, Maddie and Mitzy meet for tea and talk about the events in the summer of 1946. Maddie and David are married, and Maddie has spent her professional years opening a custom dress shop and partnering with the American Cancer Society to lobby Congress to put an end to cigarette advertising. Mitzy gives Richard’s original letter and advertising plan to Maddie so that she can share them with Congress and hold Dr. Hale accountable.