Deesha Philyaw’s story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, took the literary world by storm in 2020—it was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The Story Prize. Now she’s returned with a first novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman (Mariner Books, Sept. 29), which our starred review calls “a rollicking satire of Black megachurch culture featuring an irresistible fireball of a protagonist.” Philyaw answered our questions by email.
Tell us, briefly, what the book is about.
It’s a satirical novel that follows Scharisse Freeman, whose very cushy life is upended when secrets from her past are exposed just as she’s competing in a beauty pageant for middle-aged pastors’ wives (aka first ladies). This is a book about family, friendship, and belonging. It’s also about losing shame, embracing truth, and getting free—and what that all costs.
How is writing a novel different from writing short stories?
A short story contains a world in a very compact package. Writing my novel involved much more extensive worldbuilding and a lot of moving parts. Natalie Goldberg said, “This is what it is to be a writer: to be a carrier of details that make up history.” My novel’s timeline spans three years, with backstory spanning many decades. Lots of details to mind and continuity issues to stay on top of.
What was most challenging about writing this book? Most rewarding?
Writing the first incarnations of this novel was the hardest part. The first 13 years! Because it took time and learning and trusting on my part to allow Scharisse to evolve from being a proxy for me, at that time in my life, into her own person. It took years to discover her voice, her values, her fears and desires. I had to figure out what was at stake for her, and for the novel as a whole. I was building the plane as I flew it. There were several epiphanies and turning points along the way, and by 2019, when I turned in the manuscript for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies and returned to the novel, I felt more confident that I could finish it.
The most rewarding part has been the relationships with my editor, Rakia Clark, and my agent, Danielle Chiotti, who is my first reader on everything. Good editing is a gift.
What inspired you during the writing of the book?
I wrote True Confessions over the course of 20 years, so there were plenty of inspirations along the way, including Paul Beatty’s The Sellout; Oreo, written in 1974, the first satirical novel by a Black woman, the late Fran Ross; Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun; and Joni Mitchell’s The Hits. I also created a four-hour playlist starting with pop, R&B, and hip-hop hits from 2010 and 2011, the years in which most of the novel takes place. Along the way, I added a few additional songs that speak to the novel’s themes and to select moments in the book, like “Free” by Deniece Wiliams; “Church Girl” by Beyoncé; “Jolene” (Dolly Parton’s version and Beyoncé’s); “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross; Chopin’s “Revolutionary” Etude, Op. 10, No. 12; “Fuck You” by CeeLo Green; and more.
What fall releases are you eager to read?
Friends and Family by Natalie Baszile, Desperate Bodies by Lydia Mathis, Two Can Play That Game by Zakiya N. Jamal, Don’t Stop Snowing by Gabriel Bump, and We Were Here: A History of Black People and Alternative Music by Stephanie Phillips.
Laurie Muchnick is the fiction editor.
