Much of the underlying discourse in the story collection revolves around how Black girls and women view sex and experience pleasure, and how those fall in line with the church at-large. These stories are a heartbreaking investigation into family and love, with characters that ‘ understood how your heart was still connected to your mama, even if she hurt you sometimes. But it’s through a loving twist in the final act that Arletha demonstrates the real power of that privilege.

The collection was rejected for publication by several publishers and presses, including the Big Five, before it was acquired by West Virginia University Press. These female protagonists feel so lively, so real, so three-dimensional, and the convincing way the author crafts facets of human interaction is really a spectacle to behold. Philyaw’s collection is made all the more powerful by her ability to paint the complexities of women in their full glory. You chide yourself for walking too far ahead—for regressing into eighties song lyrics territory so soon.Then, even though you’re both exhausted and sleep deprived, adrenaline kicks in and you win the dance-off by a mile. Georgi said that as a white woman editing a Black author’s work, she was aware of the possibility of causing harm, so she was determined to approach the process with humility: “I relied on and deferred to [Philyaw’s] expertise. The Westworld star has launched Viva Maude with a two-year deal at the WarnerMedia-owned cable network and streaming service.

In the context of the story, it means that Arletha is able to turn to her mother for help while her girlfriend Rhonda cannot. These 9 stories, full of nothing but Black characters, does the two things it wants its readers to do. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a short story collection about Black women balancing the church’s expectations and their own interests.

She dress all proper in a buttoned-up suit when she standing up there with the old as dirt Reverend collecting that love offering. What I loved about The Secret Lives of Church Ladies--beyond its enticing title, which came after Philyaw published four of these stories with small presses over four years and her editor pointed out a recurring feature—is how no two stories are the same. The men in these stories aren’t painted with the rosiest of colors - this is quite clearly a feminist collection for the most part. When the narrator makes the cobbler herself, it becomes a substitute for love and affection, similar to what the boys at school were for her, an outlet for her desire to be touched. So…I say all of this to say that sometimes wheels are set in motion long before the spark is manifest.