A review by sashawins
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

📚Book Review📚
Rate: 4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

🎵songs for book
"I hate you so much right now" Kelis
" I want you " Ciara
"Giving you the best that I got" Anita Baker
" Rich spirit" Kendrick Lamar

📚 Quotes
" Mother's raise their daughters and love their sons."
" You can't save me, I am not in peril."
" Friendship is not the same as history, just as bone is not the same as marrow"

📚 Review
Packed full of short stories that left me in reflection mood. Dessha Philyaw as a way to pull you in viscerally to each story. I laughed out loud, I cringed, shook my head, and my heart ache for majority of the characters.

Discuss themes of childhood trauma, love, friendship, death & grief, fear, daughter & mother dynamics, male predators, sexuality, self love,  colorismand how the Black church can cause harm. 

📚Favorite Stories:
●" When Eddie Levart Comes"
●" Instructions for married Christian Husbands"
●" Eula"
●"Peach clobber"
●"Jael"

📚 When Eddie Levart Comes--
I want to focus on the quote, " Mother's raise daughters and love their sons" as seen in the story When Eddie Levart Comes, in this story --Daughter cares for her mom who has dementia.  She cares for her mom 24/7 even though there is unresolved issues. Daughter still seeks the love of her mother she never received as a child. She does her best caring for her mother's needs even though her mother doesn't recognize her. Her babt bother, Rico, though hardly there, is the apple of his mommas eye--she recognized him with no issues.
I truly felt sad for Daughter-- not only did she need a true vacatio from caregiver role, she needed therapy for this childhood traumas.


What I learned from this story is to speak and pure love into your children. Childhood trauma is real and have lasting effects in adulthood❤️.







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