God's Will and Other Lies: Stories, Paperback/Penny Mickelbury

In this stunning departure from her mystery writing, Penny Mickelbury's collection of stories God's Will and Other Lies , attends to the lives of Black women, mostly aging and elderly, all determined to face life with strength and grace. A nearly blind woman is determined to venture out into the world alone, and must face the consequences of her travels. A woman estranged from her community ponders the meaning of hearsay and its devastating consequences. A middle-aged woman leaves the danger of the city only to find it lurking in her own backyard. And in the novella, "Into the Fire," Mickelbury follows the life of a southern family as they strive for success amidst the violence and uncertainty of 1960s Detroit. In beautiful and exacting prose, Mickelbury gives voice to an often-overlooked coterie of women in this superb collection of fiction.