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!