The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

*FINALIST for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction**WINNER of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award**WINNER of the 2020 Story Prize**WINNER of the 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize, Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction*“Beguiling.” —The New Yorker“Tender, fierce, proudly black and beautiful, these stories will sneak inside you and take root.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“Triumphant.” —Publishers Weekly“Cheeky, insightful, and irresistible.” —​​​​​​​Ms. Magazine“This collection marks the emergence of a bona fide literary treasure.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune“Full of lived-in humanity, warmth, and compassion.” —Pittsburgh CurrentThe 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. 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 nee