"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."
This was one of my favorite reads from earlier this year and many of the stories still stick with me. I was so captivated by each story, I wondered about the characters long after the read was over. Reading "Dear Sister" felt like I was peeking into a distant family member's personal business and "When Eddie Levert Comes" made me miss my granny. "Peach Cobbler," however, was my personal favorite. I still feel some type of way about the Pastor AND his son, months later....
If you have not had a chance to check this book out yet, I implore you to do so! Perhaps you will relate to a story or two. Maybe you even know someone like one of the characters within these pages. Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, as I finished it in about a day or so!
Have you read The Secret Lives of Church Ladies yet?
If so, what was your favorite story?
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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 | 4.5 Stars
