Deesha Philyaw

Deesha Philyaw has already established herself as one of the greatest short story writers, but in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman she cements herself as the most soulfully entertaining writer of her era. The skill necessary to bounce readers from confessional to institutional critique to sweaty revelation is staggering. Yes, Philyaw loves these characters and place as much as characters and place can be fictively loved, but it is her care for, and ability to thwart, readerly expectations that feel wholly innovative. As Toni Morrison wrote, the language we wield should not sweat, but my God, the readers of these characters surely will. We will spit, piss, hoot and holler up a storm. 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 and Long Division

'I have no intention of sticking to the script...' 
 
Meet Scharisse Freeman, the Beyonce of the mega-church world: 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—one her mother could only have dreamed of. 
 
On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the validation she’s always dreamed of: a coveted invitation to participate in the Mrs. First Lady USA pageant. But as the competition nears, a scandal breaks with Schar at its centre, and her carefully curated life threatens to implode...

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

East of Eden

Little Black Classics Box Set

Jane Austen: The Complete Works

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Boxed Set: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov

Deesha Philyaw

Praise for The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman

Deesha Philyaw has already established herself as one of the greatest short story writers, but in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman she cements herself as the most soulfully entertaining writer of he ...

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter