Secret Lives of Church Ladies

<p><strong>"Tender fierce proudly black and beautiful these stories will sneak inside you and take root."<em> --Kirkus Reviews </em>(starred review)<br />"Triumphant."</strong><em><strong> --Publishers Weekly</strong></em><br /><strong>"Cheeky insightful and irresistible." --<em>Ms. Magazine</em></strong><br /><strong>"This collection marks the emergence of a bona fide literary treasure."<em> --Minneapolis Star Tribune</em><br />"Full of lived-in humanity warmth and compassion." --<em>Pittsburgh Current</em></strong><br /><strong>"These are stories about Black women that haven't been told with this level of depth wit or insight before so it will not shock me if Oprah gets around to selecting it before the end of the year."</strong><em><strong> --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</strong></em></p><p><em>The Secret Lives of Church Ladies </em>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p>