[Review] The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman - Deesha Philyaw

Summary: 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. (Pub Date: Sep 29 2026)

 

Scharisse lost her mother, who had her as a teenager, very early, and even before that, they already struggled to make a living with an unknown father on her birth certificate. So she can only consider herself lucky she met Pastor David, who married her, gave her a proper family, and made her his First Lady. It's not easy to fit in their world since Scharisse wasn't raised in a church, and that's the big reason one of her ultimate goals is to win the First Lady USA pageant, so she can prove herself to them. However, after years of trying to compete, when she finally gets the chance, her life is turned upside down by a big revelation that puts her in a delicate position in this life she's built for herself.

It's supposed to be sarcastic, but this book has a lot of Bible stuff. Right from the beginning, too. It took me a while to get into it. And I finished the book unsure if I loved it or if maybe it just pretends to be something else when it's just another book about a ruined influencer. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and a 3.5.

I like how Schar's world was built. Perfect husband, perfect life, and some headaches that are par for the course. These headaches let you know it's all, of course, a façade, but to what extent? The dismantling of her life is an interesting spectacle we already expect from the flash-forward prologue, but it led me down paths I didn't expect the book to take, though by the end, they seemed obvious.

This book also proposes to show you the world of church people, or at least Black church people, but as I said above, it felt very familiar, plus the quotes from the Bible. I was in awe that they could tell you the exact place each quote came from and wondered if all these church ladies have that kind of memory. But that was the only surprising part for me. This is very "wives of the rich" and "problems of the rich." It's still entertaining, and Schar has a very distinctive voice that I'm going to miss after spending so much time in this world, but it's not exactly groundbreaking. I'm not a church kid, but I imagine those who are might relate.

What I really didn't like in this book was the romance. For one, it wasn't needed. But it was also awkward. There was a lot of time for it to develop—I hadn't even imagined they were going for it in the beginning, given how much time they gave these two—but I failed to see the chemistry. Schar had more chemistry with all the ladies in this book, even her arch-nemesis Daphne, than with any man, to be honest.

Not a minus, but with such a pretty cover, a distinctive voice, and a unique world, I had expected a different course of events. It was all very basic. Schar's world tumbles with each development, and the secret that fuels all the changes is pretty big and sad. However, I feel the story itself could have been more daring. Maybe I wanted more blood. Rock -my- world, and not just the main character's.

From the length of this review, you can see this book was pretty engaging. It's a long book, and it's not a very quick read (maybe because it's all so far from my own world), but it does keep you reading. It's fun, entertaining, and emotional, too. So many things go wrong in Schar's life, but the reading experience itself is heartwarming and fulfilling.

 

 

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.