by Gretchen Holden
Published by a small West Virginia Press in 2020, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, written by Deesha Philyaw, delves inside the intimate moments of the lives of nine black families. The nine stories show black women and girls “…caught…between the church’s double standard and their own needs and passions.” The author provides insight into the workings of black families.
This book should be of special interest to those who have been reading about, involved in, and discussing issues related to diversity. This book is available in the New Books section of the Rose Villa library.
From the jacket copy:
“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….”
“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.”
“Deesha Philyaw’s writing on race, parenting, gender and culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post…and elsewhere.”