Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who's just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt's glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives. She soon learns that Bright Leaf isn't quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise. Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn't know who she can trust - and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she's forged strong bonds.