In the news…
“The author describes the difficult lives of these two families, both joys and sorrows, with great sensitivity and beauty. Dialect in novels is tricky, but Moore employs the Gullah dialect selectively and in brief snippets, and in so doing does not detract from the ease of reading the novel but rather adds to its verisimilitude.” – From the Langum Prize award announcement
“It’s evident that Moore invested much time and effort in doing the research for ‘The Cigar Factory,’ yet the novel does not feel laborious. The story whisks along, pulling the reader into a beautifully rendered Charleston of yore.” – From The Post and Courier in Charleston, SCDo you ship oversees and to P.O. boxes?
“As (Pat) Conroy noted, there haven’t been that many novels about labor strife in the Southern canon. One thinks of ‘The Bridge’ by Doug Marlette or ‘Honey from the Lion’ by Matthew Neill Null, published by UNCW’s Lookout Books. ‘The Cigar Factory’ enters this small, select company — a social novel, worthy of comparison to Zola or John Dos Passos.” – From the Star News in Wilmington, NC
“Moore’s novel, therefore, is an historical novel tracing not only the history of the two families but the politics that suffuse the working days of the factory women, white and black, on assembly lines segregated by gender and race.” – From Southern Literary Review
“I’ve never been to Charleston, South Carolina, but this book brought the place alive for me. It presents a rich atmosphere, allowing readers to experience the sights and smells of the historic city.” – From the Historical Novel Society
“On Sunday, Charleston’s deep-rooted historical past was re-enacted in the form of a staged reading of ‘Sounds of the Cigar Factory’ at Footlight Players Theatre. Co-directors Charlotte Tieneken and Michele Moore — the author of the novel ‘The Cigar Factory’ from which this play is adapted — brought to life the novel’s characters: poor whites and blacks living in Charleston in the first half of the 20th century and working in the infamously exploitative local Cigar Factory.” – From The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC
“The language is so beautiful,” Moore said. “I thought, let’s hear it.” – From The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC