Deesha Philyaw and Adam Smyer for THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES

Celebrate the release of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, one of our favorite books of the year! Author Deesha Philyaw will be in conversation with Adam Smyer and it's going to be awesome! This event will be held digitally via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the event with a donation of any amount of your choice. Donations will go to Black Lives Matter DC. You can order the book below and there will also be an option to buy the book during the event.  

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Tender, fierce, proudly black and beautiful, these stories will sneak inside you and take root.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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. 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.

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.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES, focuses on Black women, sex, and the Black church. Deesha is also the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Her work has been listed as Notable in the Best American Essays series, and her writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington PostMcSweeney’sThe RumpusBrevitydead housekeepingApogee JournalCatapultHarvard Review, ESPN’s The UndefeatedThe Baltimore ReviewTueNightEbony and Bitch magazines, and various anthologies. Deesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and a past Pushcart Prize nominee for essay writing in Full Grown People. 

ABOUT THE IN CONVERSATION PARTNER

ADAM SMYER is an attorney, martial artist, and mediocre bass player. His nonfiction has appeared in the Johannesburg Review of Books, and his debut novel, Knucklehead, was the sole title short-listed for the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Smyer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and cats. You Can Keep That to Yourself is his latest work.


Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event. 

Event date: 
Thursday, October 22, 2020 - 6:00pm
Event address: 
827 Upshur Street NW
Washington, DC 20011
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies By Deesha Philyaw Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781949199734
Availability: On Our Shelves Now - Click on the title to see which location!
Published: West Virginia University Press - September 1st, 2020

You Can Keep That to Yourself: A Comprehensive List of What Not to Say to Black People, for Well-Intentioned People of Pallor By Adam Smyer Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781617758966
Availability: Not In Store - Available to special order for pickup or ship. For even speediest shipping we suggest our Bookshop.org page!
Published: Akashic Books - September 1st, 2020