Summary

“Peach Cobbler” (39) begins with the narrator’s assertion that her mother’s peach cobbler was “so good, it made God himself cheat on his wife” (39). Her mother was having an affair with Troy Neely, the reverend of their church; as a child, the narrator believed that the reverend was God. Her mother baked a peach cobbler for God every Monday, her day off from the diner where she worked. The narrator describes hearing her mother cry out God’s name in the bedroom.

Even before he had begun to visit, the narrator had suspected that Pastor Neely was God, because she imagined God to be “big, black and powerful” (41) like the pastor. She had no trouble reconciling her idea of God with depictions of Jesus with blond hair and blue eyes, as Pastor Neely’s wife was pale and their son, Trevor, was...