The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

The irresistible literary debut about the hidden desires of church-going Black women 'Left me wanting more. Masterfully written' Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie 'Joyous... It's a book in love with life' The Times 'Exquisite... delicious' Bolu Babalola, author of Love in Colour 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. There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who nurses a crush on the preacher's wife; the mother who bakes a sublime peach cobbler every Monday for her date with the married Pastor; and Eula and Caroletta, single childhood friends who seek solace in each other's arms every New Year's Eve. 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.

Deesha Philyaw is an American author, columnist and public speaker. Her debut book, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2020/2021 Story Prize, and the 2020 LA Times Book Prize for First Fiction and was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. It is currently being adapted for television by HBO Max. Deesha is also a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and will be the 2022-2023 John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.