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The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26For Scharisse Freeman, success comes at a cost but is it a price she's willing to pay? From the multi-prize winning author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES, a funny, sexy, clever novel
'I laughed, I cried, I got turned on! Philyaw has created a heroine you can’t help but root for, and a book you can’t help but love.' Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles
'This book is so damn good. Sexy, messy, funny AF...it slaps with a perfectly manicured open hand.' Nikese Elise Williams, author of The Seven Daughters of Dupree
'This kind of book-making should not be humanly possible with first novels. Readers everywhere will get lost, then give thanks. This one is special. Like, forever special.' Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy
___
'I have no intention of sticking to the script...'
Meet Scharisse Freeman, the Beyonce of the mega-church bold, unapologetic, ambitious, very much her own woman.
For the same reasons, she has always been a pariah among the other Black preacher’s wives (aka First Ladies). From the moment she ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labelled too brash by the First Ladies and too holy by her estranged childhood friend, Petra. Schar doesn’t have a lot of allies, but that hasn’t stopped her from building an empire spanning from books to branded products, and living a comfortable life her mother could only have dreamed of.
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the validation she’s always dreamed a coveted invitation to participate in the Mrs. First Lady USA pageant. But as the competition nears, a scandal breaks and her carefully curated life threatens to implode...
***
'Sexy, shocking and funny as hell. It’s a wonderfully operatic tale of intrigue and betrayal… Deesha Philyaw has written a love letter to the women in this world, and this novel practically glows with her affection.” Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
“This novel is so alive! Philyaw manages the tension between faith and desire with an expert hand.” Raven Leilani, author of Luster
'Funny and juicy and sexy' Samantha Irby, author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
'Propelled by a ferocious love for others, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman heals as much as it humors, inspires as much as it scandalizes... Irresistibly catty, twisty, and packed with secrets… Trust your jaw will be on the floor many, many times.' Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck
'Unputdownable...You’ll be thinking about The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman long after you’ve read the final page.' John Vercher, author of Devil is Fine
'I laughed, I cried, I got turned on! Philyaw has created a heroine you can’t help but root for, and a book you can’t help but love.' Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles
'This book is so damn good. Sexy, messy, funny AF...it slaps with a perfectly manicured open hand.' Nikese Elise Williams, author of The Seven Daughters of Dupree
'This kind of book-making should not be humanly possible with first novels. Readers everywhere will get lost, then give thanks. This one is special. Like, forever special.' Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy
___
'I have no intention of sticking to the script...'
Meet Scharisse Freeman, the Beyonce of the mega-church bold, unapologetic, ambitious, very much her own woman.
For the same reasons, she has always been a pariah among the other Black preacher’s wives (aka First Ladies). From the moment she ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labelled too brash by the First Ladies and too holy by her estranged childhood friend, Petra. Schar doesn’t have a lot of allies, but that hasn’t stopped her from building an empire spanning from books to branded products, and living a comfortable life her mother could only have dreamed of.
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the validation she’s always dreamed a coveted invitation to participate in the Mrs. First Lady USA pageant. But as the competition nears, a scandal breaks and her carefully curated life threatens to implode...
***
'Sexy, shocking and funny as hell. It’s a wonderfully operatic tale of intrigue and betrayal… Deesha Philyaw has written a love letter to the women in this world, and this novel practically glows with her affection.” Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
“This novel is so alive! Philyaw manages the tension between faith and desire with an expert hand.” Raven Leilani, author of Luster
'Funny and juicy and sexy' Samantha Irby, author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
'Propelled by a ferocious love for others, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman heals as much as it humors, inspires as much as it scandalizes... Irresistibly catty, twisty, and packed with secrets… Trust your jaw will be on the floor many, many times.' Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck
'Unputdownable...You’ll be thinking about The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman long after you’ve read the final page.' John Vercher, author of Devil is Fine
- GenresFiction
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 29, 2026
466 people want to read
About the author
Deesha Philyaw
17 books1,175 followersDeesha Philyaw's collection of short stories about Black women, sex, and the Black church, THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES is forthcoming from West Virginia University Press in Sept. 1, 2020. Deesha is the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Her work has been listed as Notable in the Best American Essays series, and her writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Brevity, dead housekeeping, Apogee Journal, Catapult, Cheat River Review, TueNight, ESPN’s The Undefeated and The Baltimore Review; Essence, Ebony, and Bitch magazines; and various anthologies. Deesha is a Fellow at the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction and a past Pushcart Prize nominee for essay writing in Full Grown People.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
ARC for review. To be published September 29, 2026.
4 stars
I absolutely loved THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES so I was excited to read this look into the lives of “First Ladies,” the wives of pastors of black mega churches.
Scharisse Freeman is a wild character from the wrong side of Belleton (read: Atlanta) when she marries an influential pastor fifteen years her senior when she is still in her early twenties. Now she’s 40. They have a daughter, Scharisse has alienated most of the other First Ladies, she’s estranged from her childhood best friend and doesn’t talk to her one remaining blood relative, but she and David have more money and influence than Schar ever thought they might. And now she might realize her dream of being able to compete in the annual First Ladies pageant. But then things take a turn.
The story is messy, raunchy, enlightening and pretty fun, though I doubt the real First Ladies are getting up to anything quite this scandalous (I see the Atlanta ones on billboards when in the city.) Those in this world will definitely be interested in the book and I liked it, even though I did not always understand Scharisse’s motivations (she often acted like she was in thirteenth grade and she went to Yale?!)
4 stars
I absolutely loved THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES so I was excited to read this look into the lives of “First Ladies,” the wives of pastors of black mega churches.
Scharisse Freeman is a wild character from the wrong side of Belleton (read: Atlanta) when she marries an influential pastor fifteen years her senior when she is still in her early twenties. Now she’s 40. They have a daughter, Scharisse has alienated most of the other First Ladies, she’s estranged from her childhood best friend and doesn’t talk to her one remaining blood relative, but she and David have more money and influence than Schar ever thought they might. And now she might realize her dream of being able to compete in the annual First Ladies pageant. But then things take a turn.
The story is messy, raunchy, enlightening and pretty fun, though I doubt the real First Ladies are getting up to anything quite this scandalous (I see the Atlanta ones on billboards when in the city.) Those in this world will definitely be interested in the book and I liked it, even though I did not always understand Scharisse’s motivations (she often acted like she was in thirteenth grade and she went to Yale?!)
Want to read
February 18, 2026hell yea!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews