The Cigar Factory

"[Michelle Moore] . . . strikes gold in her depiction of cigar manufacturing in an era when the free market ruled. The factory is clearly the main character, a vivid, oppressive presence in the lives of its workers, and readers will not regret learning the nuts and bolts of its operation. High quality historical fiction."—Kirkus Reviews

"Moore . . . handles speech deflty, and the poetry of Charleston street lingo quickly shines through."—Star News Online

"An enthralling new novel."—Charleston Magazine

"Compelling. The Cigar Factory vividly portrays an unspoken but well-known fact about life in Charleston: It is rooted in Gullah Geechee culture and has close ties to West African heritage. From the Gullah language spoken by both white and black Charlestonians, to shared food ways, religious practices, and folk beliefs, Michele Moore's novel showcases the many ways that Charleston has been affected by the port city's large West African presence. In these pages characters of varying social classes and of European, African, and American heritages blend their truths about momentous events in Charleston history. Marvel at their stories and at all you will learn."—Ronald Daise, author, cultural preservationist, and past chair of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission

"The story whisks along, pulling the reader into a beautifully rendered Charleston of yore."—The Post and Courier

"The Cigar Factory is a large-hearted novel with a cast of characters wholly original in the vast, tempestuous literature of Charleston. It is a courageous book that takes chances with language that I wouldn't think of taking; but I will always be grateful that Michele Moore took as her ambitious objective to tell a story in which the truth of language and the truth of lives hold equal sway."—Pat Conroy, from the foreword

"The Cigar Factory is a musical prose poem. Important."—Will Patton, award-winning audio-book recording artist

2016 Winner, David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction