The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! Now ya'll know I have a love hate relationship with short story collections. And then I see a diverse short story collection and I must try reading it. And Greenleaf just wrapped so you know I needed my fix of Church related messiness. Plus 192 pages ain't bad at all so I figured let me try something different for a change. Thank you West Virginia University Press and Netgalley for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

"And if you're going to quote Scripture, quote the whole thing."

Now literary fiction isn't my favorite genre but I like to switch things up and step out of my comfort zone sometimes. And this anthology was one of the better written ones I've come across. These stories explore womanhood, faith, race, and sexuality.  Each one features a woman or girl breaking free of the unhealthy doctrines put upon Black woman in the name of faith. 

Now I know when we think of church ladies we often think of older women dressed to the nines in big brimmed hats patting their bibles, stamping their feet, and passing judgment left and right. Those women are present to but they aren't the leads in these stories. 

One of the longer stories Jael features a girl lusting after the preacher's wife. And her granny is one of those righteous old women. Not sure I buy a good Christian woman just picking names out of the Bible for her children without knowing the story behind them. But this is what she did and now she's trying to pray the wickedness out of young Jael. Her grandbaby who writes her lusty thoughts in her diary and hangs out with the fast girl down the street who messes around with grown men. 

My favorite stories were Dear Sister Dear Jackie which was a letter from one sister to another she'd never met detailing how she and the other sister buried their deadbeat father. How one sister feels they should only talk about their father with honor because the Bible said so and how she refuses to acknowledges his faults. How the best bond he gave them was the one they have with each other and the grandmother they spent summers with.

Snowfall where a woman reminisces about her life down South in the warmth where Sunday services and crab boils prevailed compared to her life now where snowfalls heavy and she wakes up extra early to shovel snow. The life where her lesbian lover seems to be drifting away from her. Where she finds herself yearning to reach out to her mother who has disowned her due to her lifestyle not fitting her strong Christian values.

Peach Cobbler where a teen girl reflects on her mother's long going affair with the reverend of the local church. How her mother would bake him the best peach cobbler he ever had while never letting her have one bite. The neglect she felt as her mother put forth more effort into taking care of this man with his own family vs her daughter whom she couldn't bother to muster up affection for.

This anthology is a love letter to the Black women who grew up down south sipping sun tea, watching The Young & the Restless with their mothers, attending Church every Sunday and bible study every Wednesday. The women who spent afternoons in the kitchen learning to fry chicken to perfect and bake a peach cobbler with the flakiest of crusts.  

Now I'm a proud Christian woman myself but I don't agree with everything people use the Bible to justify their wrongdoings. And this story calls you to look beyond your image of those "good Christian women" to see the multifaceted ladies before you. 

And if you're a good Saint who loves both the close bonds, sense of community and messiness the Black church has to offer this book is for you too.