Complex black southern family drama in the baptist church. The story is about the Winfrey family, Pastor Winfrey not only leads the church but also has a grip on most of the business in the area. To say that their influence has significant local reach is an understatement. Soon we discover that this is too much influence. The narrative focuses mainly around the “first lady” of the church, Priscilla Winfrey, the wife of the pastor. The church has long depended on the free labor of pastor’s wives, and it is clear in this story that she is doing 90% of his job.
The man is the head of the family but the woman is the neck that holds the head up and turns the neck in any way she needs to.
Long narratives and so many layers of understanding. You are going to want to read this multiple times and you will pick up on symbolism and the meanings you miss the first time around. The themes are both obvious and subtle, sometimes in the same story. It is a book that could (and probably should) be studied by college students studying books with themes of 20th century patriarchy within black culture.
Audiobook review- the performance in the audiobook is simply outstanding. I loved all of the narrators, and the internal dialogue really made the characters come alive to me. That said, I want to read slowly, once I read this book, I almost immediately went back to the beginning to read a second time. In order to fully appreciate this book I want to annotate/study the physical copy.
Themes
Patriarchy, how powerful men in communities lose moral compass
Leadership in the black community
Strong women and how they lie to themselves and each other
How the late 20th century black protestant communities became perpetuators of internalized racism
The offshoots of patriarchy- spiritual trauma, purity culture
Thank you to NetGalley and macMillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published August 19, 2025.
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