Deesha Philyaw, the award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies gives the low down on how long it’s taken to bring her debut novel to life, writing a co-parenting self-help book with her ex and what church ladies really think about her characters.
Deesha Philyaw is no stranger to praise for her writing. Her first book, an acclaimed short story collection called The Secret Lives of Church Ladies won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2020/2021 Story Prize, to name a few awards. But with the upcoming release of her debut novel in January 2027 (in the UK), The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, we’re sure more accolades are on the horizon.
As the lead protagonist in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, Scharisse Freeman has main character energy. The book blurb describes her as “the Beyoncé of the megachurch world: bold, unapologetic, ambitious, very much her own woman.”
This confidence makes Scharisse a pariah among the other preacher’s wives (aka First Ladies) as she does not fit the mould of a respectable, subtle and retiring type. She is married to a megachurch pastor who is fifteen years her senior. She has left her humble background behind and embraced luxury and extravagance, while building a successful empire, and living her best life.
However, as she’s about to turn 40, Scharisse gets an unexpected invitation to “participate in one of the biggest dates in the megachurch world – the First Lady USA pageant. But as the competition nears, a scandal breaks and her carefully curated life threatens to implode…”
Now that’s a plot we can get behind. So, who is the creator behind the book? Deesha Philyaw was raised in Florida and studied economics at Yale University and education at Manhattanville College. In addition to being an author, she is a mother of grown-up children. We met Philyaw during a recent promotional visit to the UK where she talked to us about the similarities between herself and the character of Scharisse. She also spoke on what it’s like co-parenting and co-authoring her self-help book with her ex-husband and what she’s working on next.
On the origins of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman – how she came up with the idea
Deesha Philyaw explains that the book is a true labour of love that’s been 20 years in the making. She said: “Twenty years ago, I was newly divorced and 35 years old. My initial ideas for my novel started with it being about a woman in a similar situation to mine. Yes, her [my protagonist’s] ex-husband was a pastor, while mine was not. It was all about her co-parenting with the pastor and starting to date again, but to be honest, that was a bit of a snooze fest. A friend of mine at the time lovingly told me that. But my friend also said: ‘I do want to see that marriage’ and so I took the advice. This meant that I had to put the character back a few years. Back into that unhappy marriage. I was a little reluctant to do this as I had just left an unhappy marriage myself.
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On polishing and developing the character
Philyaw didn’t let the idea go through. She persisted with developing the character. To make her more interesting, she knew that something had to be at stake for her. She had to want something. “So, she’s a First Lady and she’s in this unhappy marriage, but even that wasn’t enough. She’d gotten what she’d thought she’d wanted [her marriage], now what? Talking with my agent, we explored what could be at stake for this character? What if, instead of hating being a First Lady, she loved it? And then something happens, something that threatens her and she could potentially lose everything?
“I really had to allow the character to become herself and not allow her to become me. She had to fully evolve. She had to have these dimensions and values that I didn’t necessarily agree with.”
On why she chose the church as the backdrop
Deesha Philyaw grew up in the church, so this was a world she was familiar with. “The church is my background. So having my character in that church setting was just my thing. I was endlessly curious about church women and the position that the church puts women in. There is so much pressure and so many expectations, so much hypocrisy, abuse and patriarchy. All of those things.
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On how some church ladies have responded to her novel
So, what’s been the reception among church ladies? Philyaw said: “Well I left the church around the same time that I started writing this book. But the reception so far from people who have received the advance copies has been positive.”
The reception to her short story collection [The Secret Lives of Church Ladies] was also positive. “From church women, I sensed a relief that they felt seen and heard in those stories. Some people feel a little defensive about the church and I anticipate it will be the same thing with my novel.
“It’s like we’ve been asked to keep these secrets; we’ve been asked to hold our tongues. In both of my books, my characters don’t do that. Or they do and it’s at their peril. I’m hoping that church women see themselves in Scharisse as well. Because she is at a crossroads where she can either continue to live a lie or tell the truth which will come with consequences. It will cost her something. I want women to understand that whatever it costs you to get free, it’s worth it.”
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On writing a co-parenting book with her ex-husband
This will be Philyaw’s third book. She has a published co-parenting book with her ex-husband called Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce. She explains: “This experience was great because while we were terrible as husband and wife, we’re great co-parents. We were recognising that sometimes people need possibility models.”
Co-parenting can be fraught with issues. What happens when parent can’t see eye to eye? What do you do in that situation? “We wanted to give parents resources that were a blueprint for people who wanted to do what’s best for their children. That’s the resource we wanted to create.”
“Working with my ex-husband was great. He deferred to me a lot [laughter] recognising that I’m a writer, but we wanted to do it together as we felt it would be more compelling.”
On how writing the book helped their relationship as co-parents
“For us, it was part of the healing. We had already begun the healing process, but it reminded us that we were friends before anything else. We genuinely like each other. Everything we said in the book is true. It’s what we say to our children. They still have a family. And it was a reminder that we’re still a family.”
On what she’s working on next
Clearly building on momentum, Philyaw is already well into her next projects. She said: “My next book will be a short story collection called “Girl, Look”. I’ve already turned that in to my editor. After that, I’ll resume working on my next novel. I’m currently about 3,000 words in. Not sure what I’m going to call that one yet. But it is NOT church based… as yet [laughter]. But watch this space. There’s a pastor in it, so anything is possible.”
The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman is published on 28 January 2027 in the UK: Pre-order the book
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