The Tobacco Wives

On the Fourth of July, Mitzy holds a birthday party for Ashley, and Maddie hopes to continue talking about the issues they’ve discussed regarding gender roles and the expectations placed on women. As Ashley explains to Maddie, “[w]e’ve all been taught that our husbands call the shots. God forbid we should ever have an opinion of our own” (235). David and Maddie leave the party to watch fireworks from an old, covered bridge that was instrumental in transporting tobacco across the river and outside of Bright Leaf, cementing it as a major trade operation. David and Maddie share their first kiss.

While Maddie starts her day’s appointments, there is an emergency with Mitzy: Maddie learns that Mitzy is pregnant, and she has been bleeding and in pain. Ashley enlists Maddie’s help getting Mitzy to the hospital. While there, Maddie notices all the incubators in the nursery, observing how the babies are gaunt, small, and need feeding tubes. Dr. Hale blames the rise in incubated babies on the number of women in the workforce, stating that they need to “get back home where [they] can focus on a woman’s real job, getting our next generation here safely” (247).