"The Secret Lives of Church Ladies," by Deesha Philyaw

Deesha Philyaw’s small (179 pages) collection of short stories, “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies” (West Virginia University Press) packs a strong punch. First, what a great title! Second, each story individually, and even more the collection as a whole (some of the stories are interconnected), creates a small universe that pulls the reader right in. The focus is on Black girls and women at various ages, in various situations, often to do with love, sex, family, connections, faith, hypocrisy, loss, and grief. And yes, there are many secrets, including forbidden attractions and affairs. There is some (rather grim) humor too, as in the story “Instructions for Married Christian Husbands” who want to have affairs with the narrator; these include practical, non-negotiable guidelines regarding parking, phones, Facebook, religion, health, the man’s wife, and more. In “Peach Cobbler,” a girl writes about her mother’s affair with their church’s pastor. There is “Snowfall,” about women from the South who have trouble with the snow up North; the first line of the story is “Black women aren’t meant to shovel snow.” And poignantly, in the story “When Eddie Levert Comes,” a woman with dementia waits every day for a man she met once years ago, a minor celebrity, to come visit her. Each of these stories shows a writer in complete control, and on every page evokes emotions and insights. This is Philyaw’s debut book of fiction; I look forward to reading more by her in the future.