The Tobacco Wives

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses miscarriage.

Maddie is the narrator, protagonist, and dynamic character of the novel. Her first-person point of view in the novel provides the reader with direct knowledge of her feelings and thoughts as she comes of age. Myers creates a sympathetic character and reliable narrator in Maddie through her innocence and strong moral compass. Over the course of a single summer, she evolves into a wiser and more worldly version of the girl she was. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and isn’t afraid to stand up for her convictions, as evidenced by her determination in trying to uncover what Dr. Hale and Mr. Winston know and her courage in speaking out against it. She also begins to understand the complex gender politics that shape her world, questioning why men in power get the benefit of the doubt while women and babies suffer. She takes Virginia Woolf’s words to heart in a transformative moment of maturation as she begins to understand the intricacies of carving out her place in the world: “I thought about how money and space were allowing me the privilege of my work.