In the vein of her wildly successful 2020 short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Deesha Philyaw is back with an explosive new novel exposing what lies beneath the polished facade of a Christian church.
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman tells the story of Scharisse “Schar” Freeman, a young woman from the so-called wrong side of town whose entire world changes when she meets her husband. Marrying David, the handsome older pastor of the nationally-recognised megachurch Hope in Christ, gives Schar the stability she has always dreamed of packaged in a role she never imagined: First Lady Freeman.
Schar’s lifestyle quickly changes to one of designer clothes and lavish birthday celebrations; however, she isn’t exactly what you’d expect from the wife of one of America’s elite pastors. On the outside she tries hard to fulfill her assigned role, but inside she struggles: “For the record, I’ve never been a fan of the Black church’s insistence on treating pastors like heads of state and referring to their wives as First Ladies … I’m not a fan of hierarchies in general. And I’ve always felt conflicted about having my lifestyle funded by our congregation, some of whom can barely afford their rent, and who worship a god I’m not entirely sure I believe in.”
In order to fit the mold, she is forced to leave behind her lifelong friend, Petra. (Because, of course, the church wouldn’t be accepting of a First Lady who is best friends with a nonbelieving lesbian.) Yet even with all her efforts, Schar’s bubbly personality is not embraced by her church community. In fact, she finds her fellow First Ladies to be more mean girls than godly. Despite her best attempts to build friendships and play the role of the Proverbs 31 woman—the epitome of what a good Christian wife should be—it seems she will always be viewed as an outsider.
After nearly 20 years of marriage, and with her 40th birthday on the horizon, Schar knows what will cement her role as the consummate pastor’s wife: winning the annual First Lady USA Pageant. If she can just reach this pinnacle, she will know she has “made it” … and the other First Ladies will have no choice but to finally welcome her into their fold. Right?
When Schar finally receives this long-coveted invitation to compete in the pageant, a shocking scandal threatens to dismantle the life she’s worked so hard to build—But does she even really want this life anymore? Perhaps there is a whole different truth out there, just waiting for her to decide to live it.
As a reader, it’s the ultimate delight when a book turns out to be exactly what you wanted it to be. Deesha Philyaw delivers here in a big way, giving fans of her shorter fiction a healthy dose of the salacious church stories they’ve been waiting years to read. Philyaw is a writer with an undeniably bold voice. She holds no punches, first and foremost calling out all—and I mean all!—the hypocrisy of the church. The secrets, the judgment, the alliances, the control, the misogyny—it’s all here and you won’t be able to turn the pages fast enough!
Although there are plenty of laugh-out-loud, jaw-dropping moments, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman is much more than just the drama. Schar is a masterfully written character. She’s a strong, smart (hello, Yale graduate!) female protagonist who is impossible not to root for. She’s a beautifully complex character who has faced many struggles, but refused to crumble in the face of it all.
Setting this story between the 1980s and early 2010s also gives Philyaw the ability to cover a range of topics that bring depth to the novel. Schar’s story is deeply impacted by the HIV/AIDS crisis and profound loss. Philyaw explores what it means to be left in the world without a mother—Schar’s died when she was just 13 years old. She probes what it feels like to be stuck in a life that may look perfect from the outside but feels empty from within. And she navigates the prescient issues women face in a male-dominated society, from finding independence to owning our own sexuality. As Schar herself says: “We’re all just collateral damage in men’s war for self-preservation and dominance.”
If there is one thing I can say to convince you to pick up this novel, it’s this: The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman has humour and heart in abundance. Philyaw’s writing is brilliant and pointed, funny and tender, and a little of everything in between. You will laugh out loud, scream in frustration, cheer on Schar, and, when you turn the final page, wish you could go back and do it all over again.
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 29th 2026.
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Synopsis
From the moment Scharisse Freeman ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labeled too brash and too “of the world” by church folks who grudgingly accepted her into their fold, and too holy by her estranged childhood bestie Petra. Schar doesn’t have many allies, but that hasn’t stopped her from building an enviable business empire spanning books to clothing to branded products, and living the comfortable life her husband’s power affords her.
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the final bit of validation she’s always dreamt of: a coveted invitation to participate in the First Lady USA pageant. This is her chance to be accepted by the other pastors’ wives—First Ladies—who are “like Jesus’ disciples if they had been a group of mean girls.” Finally, blissfully, the ice between Schar and the other First Ladies begins to thaw.
But as the pageant nears, a sensational scandal breaks with Schar at its center, and her carefully curated life implodes. Schar faces down shame and terrible secrets from her childhood and is reminded that in the eyes of the church, optics can matter more than the truth.
Unflinchingly funny, frank, and splendidly unruly, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman exults in the luscious, messy pleasure of finally feeling free.
