These stories will have you clutching your pearls and fanning yourself! WOW Deesha Philyaw’s collection of nine stories about church ladies is fresh, tender, biting, raw, deeply moving and just downright beautiful. I think there was a moment I was holding my breath while reading a story and I could only release after finishing. These stories beg to be read, and be read widely. In The Secret Lives of Church Ladies we meet women and girls who are exploring their sexuality, while trying to be that “good girl”. We see where religion is ever present and how it is interpreted can lead to years of hurt. I think Philyaw did a superb job of exploring mother-daughter relationship in a nuanced way. These relationships are complex and never one dimensional. I love the theme of love and how it was executed, from those who are waiting for their love to arrive, to those not knowing what to do when they arrive. Every single one of these stories were flames! Every. Single. One. Not one of them fell below a four star rating for me. I especially loved: EULA DEAR SISTER PEACH COBBLER SNOWFALL HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A PHYSICIST JAEL INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARRIED CHRISTIAN HUSBANDS WHEN EDDIE LEVERT COMES Yes, I know, I basically just retyped the entire table of contents but that goes to show you how great this collection is. I think the author did such a great job of exploring generational curses and how history continues to repeat itself. I do love how Black the stories were and how the author left space for grace and understanding for what each character is going through. I have no words to let you know how my heart is so full after reading this book. WOW. |
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