A story of courage.

"The future in Bright Leaf seems bright for Maddie Sykes and for the local tobacco wives who can't get enough of Maddie's glamorous gowns. But beneath the idyllic surface lie dangerous underpinnings and a choice that will test one young woman's spirit, forcing her to weigh the relative value of profits and people. A beautifully rendered portrait of a young woman finding her courage and her voice."

- Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

 
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Synopsis

For the audience of Fiona Davis and Lisa Wingate, a vibrant historical debut set in 1946 North Carolina following a young female seamstress who uncovers dangerous truths about Big Tobacco.

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.

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About the author

Adele Myers grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, and has a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently works in advertising and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, son and their rescue dog, Chipper. The Tobacco Wives is her first novel.

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  • "The future in Bright Leaf seems bright for Maddie Sykes and for the local tobacco wives who can't get enough of Maddie's glamorous gowns. But beneath the idyllic surface lie dangerous underpinnings and a choice that will test one young woman's spirit, forcing her to weigh the relative value of profits and people. A beautifully rendered portrait of a young woman finding her courage and her voice."

    - Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

  • “Myers brilliantly seduces us with her setting – a North Carolina town of beautiful socialites, opulent dresses, and elegant soirees – before revealing a terrible secret that threatens the entire community. 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 of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

  • “A sweep-you-away story with a lush North Carolina setting and a courageous woman at its center. Myers’s debut novel will resonate long after you turn the last page; powerful and authentic, The Tobacco Wives is unforgettable.”

    —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah

  • "The Tobacco Wives is a perfect example of the kind of historical fiction I love best: a story firmly grounded in the past that still feels powerfully resonant today. In Adele Myers's capable hands, post-WW2 Bright Leaf, North Carolina--the tobacco capital of the South--comes alive in technicolor, with all the glamour of Southern society, as well as a hidden underbelly of dangerous secrets and lies. A powerful debut and coming-of-age story rich in pitch-perfect dialogue and detail, The Tobacco Wives will transport you to Big Tobacco's golden age just as it begins to unravel--and remind you that we all have the power to stand up and fight for the things that are right." 

    —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names

  • “With an atmosphere so thick you could blow it out in smoke rings, Adele Myers vividly conjures post war North Carolina, where ladies wear matching hats and gloves and no one questions the supremacy of the all-powerful tobacco leaf—except one young woman, trying to find her place in the world, torn between conflicting loyalties. A thoroughly immersive and engaging read!”

    —Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author of Band of Sisters

  • “Adele Myers brings mid-century North Carolina vividly to life in her impressive, beautifully detailed debut novel, The Tobacco Wives, a suspenseful coming-of-age story of a brave young woman’s search for dangerous truths obscured by corporate deceit and betrayal.”

    —Jennifer Chiaverini, New York Times bestselling author of The Women’s March

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