About the Book
"[This book] explores the raw and tender places where black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions"--
Book Synopsis
*FINALIST for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction*
*WINNER of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award*
*WINNER of the 2020 Story Prize*
*WINNER of the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize, Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction*
"Beguiling." --The New Yorker
"Tender, fierce, proudly black and beautiful, these stories will sneak inside you and take root." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Triumphant." --Publishers Weekly "Cheeky, insightful, and irresistible." --Ms. Magazine "This collection marks the emergence of a bona fide literary treasure." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Full of lived-in humanity, warmth, and compassion." --Pittsburgh Current The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions.
There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who has a crush on the preacher's wife. At forty-two, Lyra realizes that her discomfort with her own body stands between her and a new love. As Y2K looms, Caroletta's "same time next year" arrangement with her childhood best friend is tenuous. A serial mistress lays down the ground rules for her married lovers. In the dark shadows of a hospice parking lot, grieving strangers find comfort in each other.
With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.
From the Back Cover
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions.
There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who has a crush on the preacher's wife. At forty-two, Lyra realizes that her discomfort with her own body stands between her and a new love. As Y2K looms, Caroletta's "same time next year" arrangement with her childhood best friend is tenuous. A serial mistress lays down the ground rules for her married lovers. In the dark shadows of a hospice parking lot, grieving strangers find comfort in each other.
With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.
Review Quotes
"Beguiling."The New Yorker
"Triumphant. . . . Philyaw's stories inform and build on one another, turning her characters' private struggles into a beautiful chorus."
Publishers Weekly "A collection of luminous stories populated by deeply moving and multifaceted characters. . . . Tender, fierce, proudly black and beautiful, these stories will sneak inside you and take root."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Vivid, vibrant stories that will linger on your tongue like sweet tea."
Vox"In this year of constriction and pain, juicy goodness bursts from every page of Deesha Philyaw's debut short story collection. . . . This collection marks the emergence of a bona fide literary treasure."
Minneapolis Star Tribune "Sex, friendship, freedom, and agency are centered throughout this cheeky, insightful, and irresistible new book."
Ms. Magazine "Stunning. . . Philyaw's stories are addictive while also laying bare the depth and vulnerability of Black women."
Observer"Beautifully crafted. A lovely collection."
Roxane Gay, author of
Bad Feminist "Our new decade deserves a new literary force with major literary skills. Deesha Philyaw uses the comic, the allegorical, and the geographic to examine Black intimacies and Black secrets. Her work is as rigorous as it is pleasurable to read."
Kiese Laymon, author of
Heavy"Full of lived-in humanity, warmth, and compassion."
Pittsburgh Current "These are stories about Black women that haven't been told with this level of depth, wit, or insight before, so it will not shock me if Oprah gets around to selecting it before the end of the year."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Incredibly moving."
Pittsburgh City Paper "The stories of these women and their friendships come alive, beating with tenderness and imperfection, and build upon one another to create a beautiful melody of female determination."
Amazon Book Review, "12 Must-Read Books by Black Authors Coming in Fall 2020"
"The church, sexuality, and everyday life come alive in each story bringing readers closer to experiences we can, or have, seen ourselves in."
Electric Lit, "24 New and Forthcoming Books That Celebrate Black Lives"
"This is no mere collection of sappy romance stories. The love in Philyaw's stories runs the gamut from sweet to bitter, sexy to sisterly, temporary to time tested, often with hidden aspects. The word
secret in the title is earned, and some of the secrets are downright juicy."
Tara Campbell, author of
Midnight at the Organporium, from
Barrelhouse magazine
"To encounter Deesha Philyaw's work is to encounter contemporary folktales. They are the stories of southern customs and mores and of voices over the back fence. The daughters and granddaughters of Toni Cade Bambara and Bebe Moore Campbell readers need this book."
Yona Harvey, author of
Hemming the Water and writer for the Marvel Comics
World of Wakanda series
About the Author
Deesha Philyaw's writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in the
New York Times, the
Washington Post,
McSweeney's, the
Rumpus,
Brevity,
TueNight, and elsewhere. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, she currently lives in Pittsburgh with her daughters.