The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

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

"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

"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

"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)

"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”