Deesha Philyaw

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The True Confession of First Lady Freeman is a triumph.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so deeply that an author reached into my mind, lifted out my thoughts, and laid them on the page with such clarity and precision. Reading this collection felt uncanny in the best way—as though Deesha Philyaw articulated emotions and truths I’ve carried but never fully named.
Philyaw exposes the pageantry, disingenuous showmanship, and hypocrisy that permeate far too many show more churches today. But she doesn’t stop at critique. She interrogates the broader societal scaffolding that enables and protects these failures—systems that persist almost entirely at the expense of women, their dignity, their safety, and their truth.
What makes this book exceptional is its emotional intelligence. These stories are bold and incisive, but never hollow in their sharpness. They are deeply humane, grounded in compassion even as they refuse to look away from harm.
Readers who love the character‑driven, emotionally rich fiction of Mary Monroe or Terry McMillan will find much to admire here. This is a collection that lingers—one I expect to return to, and one that has made me a lifelong admirer of Philyaw’s work. show less

Every story is dazzling. Sex, identity, religion, difficult mother daughter relationships, Publix potato salad and sweet tea, what more does anyone need? I listened to the audio, and I think it is particularly well suited to audio (and also the reader, Janina Edwards, is superb.)

"Eula" is absolute perfection. Sexy, funny and sad and really physical. Such a sense of immediacy -- I feel like I am in that room with these two women in love.

"Not Daniel was a perfect piece of microfiction - show more Charming and ribald in the space of 6 minutes.

"Dear Sister", while less elegant than Eula, was sassy and smart and a compelling introduction to this complicated mess of a family that I 100% want to join.

"Preach Cobbler" broke my heart into crumbs

"Snowfall" broke what was left of my heart after reading Preach Cobbler; the damage bad religion can do almost outpaces the healing good love can bring.

"How to Make Love to a Physicist" is the story that most touched me personally. I understand this woman who had absorbed the message that she does not deserve love, but I rooted for the man that wanted to show her different."

"Jael" made me laugh and cry, not metaphorically. The surprises in a young girl's diary and the ugliness of fixed ideas of what a girl should be. Being sexually attractive to men and acting on that brings accolades and censure. Ignoring male attention brings the same. Men destroy women, and not wanting men is an abomination. It can all make a girl just a little crazy.

"Instructions for Married Christian Husbands" was tightly crafted and really enjoyable, but this was the one woman in this book I didn't know. That might be a hole in my experience. The women I know who have divided sex from feeling haven't thought things out quite so fully as the MC in this story,

"When Eddie Levert Comes" shows us a mother and daughter where there is love but no liking, a daughter longing for validation, taking on the work of caring for a mother with dementia, and finding that even in dementia only men matter. show less

A fascinating and moving collection of short stories about the inner lives and conflicts of Black women. The title gives the stories a framework but the characters are not all actively involved in a church. However they are all black women from the south, and the south and the church provide the framework that shapes and defines the scaffolding of their lives. Philyaw has written a powerful collection of stories of unfulfilled women whose needs are not really met by the life that is imposed show more on them. Through a variety of stories and experiences, the author explores the emotions and feelings we all keep hidden, and although in one sense this group of stories is about cultural expectations that are different than my own, much of the gist of it remains universal. I say this not so much about the specific stories or practices, and without judgement on the choices made or the actions taken, but because the pain and frustrations of these women is palpable. These are stories about women who are expected to play a specific role in society, women who have few options or choices if they do not conform to that role, women whose yearnings, needs, and hopes are not met by the society in which they live. These are stories about women who are not allowed to be fully themselves except behind closed doors, in secret. Powerfully rendered. show less

Deesha Philyaw's debut, a collection of short stories, is a delight. Focusing on the lives of Black women, often queer, often financially precarious, this collection illuminates lives that are seldom written about. While there are commonalities, the lives Philyaw is writing about are varied and the stories never felt repetitive.

In my favorite of the bunch, Snowfall, a woman has moved north with her partner, forging a new life together after her family rejected her. She misses her extended show more family and the South, never more so than when she and her partner shovel out the driveway early in the morning. In How to Make Love to a Physicist, an art teacher is wary of the interest of the science teacher she meets at a conference. And Peach Cobbler, about a girl growing up with a single mother who bakes for and carries on with the married minister every week, has a companion story later on.

The writing isn't the focus, and neither are the plots; what makes this collection noteworthy lays in how Philyaw establishes a sense of place and in the remarkable characters in her stories. This is a great beginning for a young writer and I'm eager to read what she writes next. show less