The Tobacco Wives

Maddie goes to the hospital and sneaks into Aunt Etta’s room to tell Etta and Frances everything she’s learned. They are furious with Dr. Hale and Mr. Winston and support Maddie in telling Mitzy what she knows. Aunt Etta explains that she had heard rumblings of smoking being bad for the lungs but has tried not to think about it too deeply, saying, “North Carolina is tobacco, the tobacco capital of the South. It’s our pride, our livelihood” (286). Maddie tells them how Dr. Hale threatened both Aunt Etta’s health and occupation, as well as Frances’s, and references the risk if the women had to relocate elsewhere. Maddie’s unspoken recognition that Frances is more than just a “special friend” of Etta’s and that the women are a couple makes them emotional, and they all embrace. They tell her that her father would be proud.

When Mitzy returns from the hospital, Maddie tells her everything that’s happened with Dr. Hale: his threats, Richard’s advertising plans, and the letter. Maddie is distraught and scared that no one will believe her, but Mitzy tells her that she did the right thing, and she promises to act.