First published 2026
Scharisse Freeman has spent fifteen years building her empire. She married a megachurch pastor, created a business spanning books and clothing, and earned the comfortable life her mother would have wanted. The church ladies call her too worldly. Her estranged best friend Petra calls her too holy. Schar keeps building anyway. On her 40th birthday, she receives an invitation to the First Lady USA pageant. Finally, the other pastors' wives might accept her. The competition brings her closer to women she describes as Jesus' disciples reimagined as mean girls. Then scandal breaks with Schar at the center. Her curated life crumbles. Childhood secrets surface. The church cares more about appearances than truth. Schar must choose between the life she has constructed and the person she actually is. The decision forces her to confront everything from the AIDS crisis of the 1980s to the Obama years that shaped her journey.
Genres: drama, literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, adult, adult-fiction
Vibes: character-driven, emotional, intimate, introspective, thought-provoking
Tropes: hidden-secrets, life-changing-event, personal-transformation, social-pressure
Setting: United States
Period: 1980s, 2000s, 21st century
656 pages · Paperback · William Morrow Large Print
Content warnings: racism, sexism
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