"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. We're along for the satisfying journey as Maddie Sykes--a plucky 16-year-old who has faced more loss than anyone deserves--learns what she's made of and tries to summon the courage to stand up to people who could make or break the rest of her life. 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

“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

“The Tobacco Wives is a sweep-you-away story with a lush North Carolina setting and a courageous woman at its center. What more do we want from a story than this? Myers’s prose is stitched together as beautifully as the fancy dresses her protagonist Maddie Sykes sews for the elite women of this tobacco town. The question at the heart of this novel trembles with power—what happens when what we know is right conflicts with what we are being told is true? Myers’s story 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

“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