Sara Collins

The writing in this book is as eloquent and powerful as the subject matter is horrible. Each perfectly chosen word falls neatly into place and draws you inescapably into the heroine's skin as she lays out the events that led her from the plantation where she served as an assistant to her master, a 'scientist' who considered it his life's work to prove that Africans were less than human, to her current imprisonment awaiting trial for the murder of the woman she loved. The narrative confronts show more brutal history without pulling any punches yet also without voyeurism (in fact, it explicitly calls out the kind of voyeurism you sometimes come across in stories like this: "What no one will admit about the anti-slavers is that they've all got a slaver's appetite for misery, even if they want to do different things with it"). Read this if you want your heart diced with a master chef's precision then crushed into a fine paste, but like, in a way where you'll thank the author for the experience with your final, gurgling breath.

Rep: Black protagonist, sapphic protagonist, f/f relationship, mentally ill love interest
Warnings: slavery, racism, physical, psychological, sexual and medical abuse, torture, rape, incest, addiction, gore show less

The Confessions of Frannie Langton takes on two 19th-century writing conventions, the gothic novel and the slave narrative, and deconstructs them both. The narrator is Frannie Langton, a black woman in London accused of the double murder of her master George Benham and his French wife Marguerite. Frannie claims to be unable to remember the murder and instead writes to her lawyer the story of her life.

Frannie was born into slavery in Jamaica and served a man named Langton who considered show more himself a scientist dedicated to proving the inferiority of Black people. When Langton brings Frannie to England she ostensibly becomes a free person, but he "gifts" her to Benham, another dubious scientist, and essentially remains a captive. But Franny and Marguerite form a romantic connection which lends Franny both new privileges and greater risks.

Sara Collins performed thorough historical research to support the details of this story and it shows. It's a historical novel but one that reflects on the dark side of humanity, as well as love and justice (or the lack thereof). It's a novel designed to disturb and it does it well. show less

Digital audiobook narrated by the author and Ray McMillan

“I used to be called Frannie Langton before I was taken from Paradise to London and given by Langton as maid to Mr George Benham, who then gave me to his wife. It wasn’t my choice to be brought here, but very little in my life ever was. I was Langton’s creature. If I pleased him, I pleased myself. If he said something was to be, it was. But Langton was a man who’d named his own house Paradise despite all that went on there, and show more named every living thing in paradise too. What more do I need to tell you about him?”

This work of historical fiction looks at slavery, colonialism, drug addiction, medical experimentation and lesbianism in early 19th century England. Frannie is a slave / housemaid and narrates her story. Collins begins the novel in 1826, with Frannie writing her “confession” from prison in London. And then goes back to 1812 in Jamaica as Frannie remembers her youth as a slave on a sugar plantation, and her transformation and education as an assistant to her master. All this leads to her current situation: accused of murdering both Benham and his wife, Marguerite.

This is Collins’s debut novel and it’s an ambitious one. Frannie is a marvelous character – educated, observant, loving, strong and yet vulnerable. Her race dooms her to a life of servitude and a lack of opportunity, and yet she finds ways to feed her mind and her soul. I really can’t say more without giving away key plot points, but Collins drew me in and kept me in her grasp. The story was as addicting as the laudanum that Frannie and her mistress relied on .

The author narrates along with Ray McMilan. Collins does a fine job of bringing Frannie to life, while McMilan’s role is to narrate the official court transcripts that are sprinkled throughout the story. show less

This review was difficult for me to write. I’m not really sure I know why. I did like the book just not the actual reading of it. I often found myself annoyed by Frannie but I can’t really pinpoint why. Over a month later and I’m still trying to puzzle this out.
The book is well written with well drawn characters placed in realistic situations. We follow Frannie from the Jamaican plantation where she is forced to do her cruel masters’ bidding through the London townhome where the show more murders occur to the Old Bailey where her life hangs in the balance. Did she commit the murders and if so what could possibly be her motive to kill a woman she loved? These are the questions Frannie attempts to answer in a letter to her attorney she calls her confession.
Other reviewers have complained about some of the topics covered in this book such as slavery, human experimentation,incest and lesbianism. I must disagree I feel these topics were well handled, any brutality is often just alluded to and not described in any detail. As for the lesbian affair Frannie enters into it is tastefully and beautifully written.
All in all a recommended read. show less