(Pub date 9/29/2026)
I have lived most of my life in the South, I am a church goer, and I have attended integrated school and have Black friends and family. But the context of "The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman" was a revelation to me. I knew nothing about Black mega churches, one of the largest of which is in Durham NC with an average attendance of 15,000 people a week. I had never heard of "First Ladies" in the context of pastors' wives of these large churches. And I certainly never knew that there are pageants for these First Ladies to compete. How did I miss something this big?
Deesha Philyaw won the Pen/Faulkner Award and the LA Book Prize as well as being a National Book Award Finalist in 2020 for her debut short story collection "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies". This new, much anticipated novel, "The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman", continues many of the same themes of her short story collection. She writes about the struggle between societal expectations and living authentically and with integrity.
Scharisse Freeman is the child of a single mother who was raised by her aunt after her mother dies when she is 12. Like Tayari Jones' protagonists in "Kin", losing her mother is the central, defining crisis of her life. She is sustained in her youth by her aunt and her best friend Petra who is also an orphan. After going to college, she returns to Georgia and marries an older man, Rev. David Freeman, pastor of one of the largest Black mega churches in the US.
The novel, Schar's "confession", written in her exuberant, no-holds-barred, voice, opens with her final appearance in the First Lady USA pageant. Philyaw moves back and forth through time chronicling the key events in Schar's life that lead her to this defining moment. There are lots of plot twists: the identity of Schar's father, the events leading to her mother's death, false accusations of adultery, "mean girls" backstabbing and unexpected love interests. The story is rooted in Black culture but its themes are universal. Like Tayari Jones, Deesha Philyaw has moved beyond the single focus on the injustices of racism to talk about universal human experiences within the setting of a distinct, vibrant culture. Schar is a woman who has been willing to compromise almost everything she loves and believes in to achieve safety and stability. When you place so little value in yourself, how can others value you more highly? What honesty and trust do we owe each other in loving relationships?
"The True Confessions of Lady Freeman" is a wild ride; laugh out loud funny in places, poignant in others. While the characters aren't as fully developed as a reader might wish, this is an entertaining, well written novel. Deesha Philyaw is an author to watch.
reviewed by Jean C VanNoppen
