This book made me want to stand up and cheer for a 15-year-old girl who had more courage than all the adults around her. This was my book club’s March pick and it did not disappoint.
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers is set in 1946 in Bright Leaf, North Carolina. It’s a fictional tobacco town where everything looks picture perfect on the surface. Young Maddie Sykes arrives to spend the summer with her aunt, a seamstress who sews gowns for the wives of powerful tobacco executives. But the more time Maddie spends in this world of glamour and garden parties, the more she starts to notice what no one wants her to see.
What really got me about this book was how well Myers captured a pivotal moment in women’s history. During WWII, women had stepped into jobs that had always belonged to men. For many women it was the first time earning their own money and building their own identities. And then the men came home. Would women be pushed back into the roles they’d been handed before the war, or would things ever be the same again? Myers doesn’t let you forget that question for a single page.
The atmosphere is the real star here. The southern setting feels authentic, the fashion details are chef’s kiss, and the characters are drawn with enough depth that you actually care what happens to them. Fair warning: the opening chapters take a little while to get going, but once the story finds its footing, it pulls you right in.
My book club had a fantastic discussion with this one. It’s exactly the kind of book that gives you plenty to dig into.
Perfect for fans of historical fiction, women’s fiction, and family drama.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
What’s a book you’ve read that made you think differently about a piece of history you thought you already knew?
#thetobaccowives #adelemyers #historicalfiction #womensfiction #bookclubread
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
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