An absorbing and enthralling work of historical fiction, The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins is a vivid and dramatic story of love and loss. The Frannie of the title is a mulatto Jamaican slave given to an English couple to work as a household servant. The book opens with her trial for the brutal murder of her master and mistress, while being unable or unwilling to provide her lawyers with a defense. Part of the book is in journal format, as during the last days of the trial Frannie begins to record her life story , and this in itself is telling , unlike most other former slaves , Frannie can read and write. As she tells her story we learn of the harshness of life on a sugar plantation , especially for the bastard daughter of the plantation owner who is reviled by his wife. Moving forward to her new life in London , and a forbidden romance with her new mistress, we see that Frannie is a very complex and interesting character shaped by her life's experiences for both good and bad. How does she end up in a gaol cell awaiting a possible death sentence, and does she deserve to be there? To answer these questions would spoil the mystery that slowly but wonderfully winds its way through the book,, but the answer is well worth the journey,
I could hardly believe that this was a debut book, the writing ,characterization and scene setting were incredibly accomplished, and though the pacing may have been slow at times, it never felt like the book was dragging but rather that it gave the reader a chance to breathe , and to savor the rich descriptions of both people and place. I should also add that this book is not for the faint of heart, the depiction of life on the plantation in particular is often graphic in portraying the brutality and cruelty inflicted on the slaves.
I read and reviewed an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

In 19th century London ,Frannie Langdon is tried for murder of Mr and Mrs Benham., Frannie was born as a slave, given as a maid to their household., prejudiced against and bullied by others. The book tells not only about this murder and trial (did she kill them? how? why?) but also about her own story - from the Jamaican plantation to the claustrophobic rooms and London streets, we get a grim picture of slavery and drudgery even in times when the slavery was technically abolished. Details are gruesome and sad, the love misplaced, lives wasted.

"The Confessions of Frannie Langton" is described as a gothic novel, and indeed it tells the awful (and I admit - not fully understood by me in places) story of horrible experiments conducted by Frannie's masters as well as debates on race and science. There is prison, whore houses, there is also forbidden love.... The problem was for me that the book consisted of two different stories, none of them fully realised, that did not merge properly together.

However, it was a good enough debut and I liked the narration of the story and its voice. Hopefully I will enjoy the next book by Sara Collins more!

My thanks to Penguin Books/Viking for an eARC via NetGalley of Sara Collins’ debut, ‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ in exchange for an honest review.

The author opens the novel expressing her love growing up of Gothic novels, including ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’, that left her wondering why a Jamaican former slave couldn’t be the star of her own gothic romance. So eventually she wrote this partly as a tribute to ‘Jane Eyre’ yet with a protagonist “who would have lived outside the margins set by history”.

The novel opens in April 1826 as Frances (Frannie) Langton is on trial for her life charged with the murders of George and Marguerite Benham. Frannie tells us: “I never would have done what they say I’ve done, to Madame, because I loved her. Yet they say I must be put to death for it, and they want me to confess. But how can I confess what I don’t believe I’ve done.”

Frannie then proceeds to tell her story explaining that it isn’t going to be “one of those slave histories, all sugared over with misery and despair”. Frannie’s journey is a remarkable one that explores various themes including the years of transition as slavery was abolished in the British Empire and some very sinister scientific experiments related to race.

I found it a highly engaging tale that I enjoyed very much and I found Frannie a wonderful character. A few chapters in I discovered that the audiobook had been released ahead of the print edition and purchased so that I could listen as well as read. Sara Collins does a superb job narrating the sections spoken by Frannie. Roy McMillan provided additional narration for various reports and witness statements.

My ARC did not have any end notes and I would be interested in finding out more about Collins’ research and sources linked to the period. Certainly she created a strong sense of time and place and I felt very immersed in the story.

I did find an article on the Penguin website titled: ‘Sara Collins: As a black woman, I was reluctant to write a novel about a woman who had been a slave’ that provided background about her decision to write this book.

The cover art is very striking and certainly drew my attention. Excellent and highly recommended.

This is a long and quite convoluted story that at times felt like it was attempting to include every social injustice it could fit between the covers. However it is a really well written book and though I struggled at times, it did keep me engaged enough to finish it. Some scenes and subplots challenged credibility but the book also explored issues, like addiction, scientific experimentation etc. that are worth thinking about. There's a lot of story and it's a book worth reading.

This book is going on my best reads of 2019 list. It is a spectacular, well-written and researched story. There are so many poignant quotes I would love to share, but one of the most important and indeed historically correct is this:‘Not one thing in this world more dangerous than a white woman when she bored.’

That sentence just epitomizes colonialism, slavery and the mind-set of men, women and children, who believe themselves to be superior to others because of the colour of their skin. It is also a predictor of how dangerous the white women are in this story. Frannie can be set aside, betrayed, humiliated, used and abused one moment then befriended and used as a confidante in the next minute. She is nothing more than a disposable coffee cup.

Frannie Langton is property. She is a mulatto. Her worth is determined by her owner. Her happiness is determined by the men and women who decide when she is allowed to be happy. She is drawn into the studies her Massa conducts in the privacy of his estate. Terrible experiments that would make Mengele proud. All in the name of proving that black people are inferior to white people.

Part of this story circles around the guilt Frannie has to carry around with her. She feels like a collaborator for helping and colluding with Langton, and more importantly for not trying to stop his inhumane actions.

The story begins with Frannie being tried for the brutal and bloody murder of her master and mistress. She revisits her past in flashbacks as she attempts to piece together the jigsaw puzzle of what really happened, and whether she actually did kill someone she loved.

This might be considered a controversial point of view – the book world and readers need more diversity. It definitely needs more diversity when it comes to authors. Not only does the power base and majority, which is white and predominantly the Western world, need to hear and read the voices of other ethnicities, of minorities and in general non-whites. The younger generations need to be able to see themselves reflected in literature, and of course all other media.

Why is that important in this instance? Because Collins comes at the subject matter from a completely different angle, which means you get a different read. You can feel the anger, disbelief and utter disgust at the accepted status quo and the norm at the time. The author doesn’t pull any punches whilst describing language, theories and atrocities.

The bizarre theories of eugenics and scientific racism has existed for many centuries. Many people believe the Nazi regime was the start of this belief that there is and should be a superior race. The truth is many well-known, popular and influential people were parading around these pseudo-scientific ideas many years before that. The slave trade and consistent oppression of black people is an excellent example of the result of said beliefs.

I could write about this story for ages. I don’t want to go into too many details because the readers should experience it for themselves. It is an intricate and complex piece of fiction. It’s a poignant, multi-faceted and moving story. I absolutely loved it and hope this is just the first of many for Collins.

Slavery is coming to an end and Science needs experiments to prove a theory" crannies is an experiment but what will it prove? Brought to England and given away to the Benhams. They both die and Frannie is accused of their murders. Did she do it? If so, why? An intreguing read that reveals all that Frannie went through from birth to death. I enjoyed it, hope you do too.

Hmmm, this is a tough one to review. I wanted to love it. I was excited to hear that it was a tribute to Jane Eyre, a gothic romance with a Jamaican slave as the main character, it sounds right up my street. Unfortunately, it didn't grab me; I wasn't enthralled by the story, didn't warm to the characters and found it was too long. Saying that, there was a lot to appreciate about the writing, clearly lots of research and expertise went into it and the style of writing was good.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Here we go again with this year’s virtue-signalling themes. Slavery, sexual abuse, gender identity, aren’t men awful, no wonder women are driven to lesbianism and dressing up as men. It wouldn’t be so bad if this kind of loose victim-claiming wasn’t quite so incoherent. Is lesbianism really a result of men being horrible, nasty rapists and abusers? I’m guessing if one suggested that outright, one would be shouted down, and rightly so, so surely authors who’re desperately trying to make points, should think through the points they’re inadvertently making. I am so tired of literary misandry, and of feminists who think misogyny is bad but misandry’s just fine.

This is the second book I’ve begun this year which rests on the idea of a slave being educated by his or her master to assist in scientific experiments. I find it highly unlikely that Frannie could gain the equivalent of what seems like a graduate-level education in literature, philosophy and anthropology from reading a few books and talking to her drunken, abusive owner, but let it go.

Then we get to Victorian London, where of course by recent literary convention all women defy their restricted circumstances by having lesbian relationships, and/or dressing up in men’s clothes. But let that go too. That this particular lesbian relationship is between a white gentlewoman and her mulatto maid... OK, it’s stretching now, but let it go. That the attraction is because of their shared love for Milton and for feminist literature – oh, come on! Give me a break!

Abandoned at 30% for not being about an ex-slave accused of murdering her employers as promised in the blurb, and instead being a mish-mash of all today’s liberal concerns re-hashed yet again so we can all wallow deliciously in our virtuous guilt. How I long for a story set in Victorian London that actually feels like Victorian London. I guess the only thing to do is to go back to reading books by actual Victorian Londoners...

A prime example of “write the kind of book you want to read yourself”, Sara Collins has pulled out all the stops to create this stunning debut. Frances Langton is a character who burrows under your skin and stays with you forever. Everything about this novel was beautiful and original. Simply wonderful!

3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2019/03/22/the-confessions-of-frannie-langton-by-sara-collins/
The Confessions of Frannie Langton was an impressive debut and an intriguing read. Ultimately it’s the rather sad story of one young woman’s life. Born into slavery, Frannie Langton spent her first few years on a Jamaican sugar plantation, ironically called Paradise, before being taken by her master to London and given away as a house servant.

I enjoyed this read, it was certainly told in a compelling way and in spite of a few issues I think it was an impressive debut.

Frannie is in prison. She’s accused of the murder of her former employers and due to stand trial. With very little hope of being found innocent she decides to write down her own story. She takes us back to her earliest memories on the plantation and slowly but surely gives us her account of the events that led up to the murders. What makes this account so intriguing is that Frannie is well spoken and can read and write. She was an experiment of sorts, her master at the plantation wishing to see how far he could take her education. Her sharp mind and ability to learn land her in difficulties, she becomes invaluable to her master as a scribe, taking down notes of his experiments which unfortunately are of a very grim nature. One thing leads to another and Frannie is taken to London and left as a servant in the Benham household.

I would say that this story has two aspects to it. There’s the mystery of the murder and events leading up to it and there’s the mystery of Frannie’s past and the links between her former master and her new employer Benham and the hideous experiments they undertook together. Personally, I felt like this story would have worked better if it had focused more on Frannie and the murder mystery. For me, the experimentation side of the story felt like it was added in to create a sensation or maybe to come up with new territory but I didn’t really feel like it added anything to the murder/mystery aspect of the story and in a way the mystery behind the experiments and the build up to the revelation felt like it stole some of the thunder from the events that led up to the murders.

What I really enjoyed about this was the writing and the ease in which the author depicts life, either at the plantation or in the Georgian home that Frannie is taken to. Frannie has a lovely narrative voice and is very easy to read. She’s maybe not always her own best friend, she certainly doesn’t make friends easily but I can’t really fault her for sticking up for herself even if others think her headstrong.

This is at heart a sad tale. Things were never really going to work out well for Frannie. She becomes addicted not only to laudanum but also to the love of her new mistress. Marguerite is trapped in an unhappy marriage. In a way she’s almost like a slave (although a very pampered, indolent and privileged one). She practically lives in one room of the house, brought out as little more than decoration when it suits her husband. To be honest I didn’t really like Marguerite. Of course I felt sorry for her in a loveless marriage, she was trapped to an extent but I also felt like she also played with the lives of others with little regard for their welfare.

Frannie meanwhile has become something of an Eliza Doolittle. With her well spoken manner and ability to read and write she’s definitely out of place. She doesn’t fit in with the downstairs staff and she doesn’t fit in with the upstairs quality. She quite literally becomes besotted with Marguerite which eventually leads to petty jealousies and a rift that sees her banished from the household.

I won’t elaborate on the story. There’s a mystery to be uncovered here that is best discovered whilst reading.

Overall, I thought this was a good read. I think the pacing was a little slow in the first half but it wasn’t something that really bothered me too much as I was enjoying Frannie’s account. Personally, I think there’s a little too much going on in terms of the two different storylines but I enjoyed this even if, as I mentioned above, it’s a sad tale.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Sara Collins states that she set out to write a gothic romance with a black slave as the main character. She has done much more than this however with the tale of Frannie Langton. The reader learns a great deal about the horrors of human experimentation to investigate racial differences and also about the aftermath of the abolition of the slave trade.
The story is told from the point of view of Frannie as she awaits and experiences her trial for double murder. Frannie was born on a sugar plantation then brought to London by her ex-owner and passed on to another couple to be their housemaid. In this household she discovers love but succumbs to drug abuse and her life spirals downwards resulting in her arrest and trial.
This was a well-researched book but not an easy read. I do think the book would have benefitted from further editing as it was rather long, with some aspects drawn out and others only given limited time and explanation. Overall I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and will look out for more by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really didn't like this. While the writing is somewhat impressive, the unlikable characters and the ridiculousness and implausibility of some parts of the story arc, just made it a chore for me to read. This was just another book about the horrors of Slavery, which is ironic given how many time in the book slaves and former slaves refers to not wanting to write about or been known for talking about the savagery of Slavery as that's all the white abolitionists are interested from former slaves or something along those lines.

While black female characters are under-represented in main stream literature, other than the fact that Frannie is the narrator, her character is described or portrayed as many of the negative connotations black women are fighting against still on a daily basis - frightening, a whore, uppity, manipulative, stupid.- without dispelling or correcting these myths. So a different representation would have been preferable.

I can't say that I have read any Gothic Literature before, so maybe the book is supposed to be this way and I'm not a fan of the genre. I will say that as a work of historical fiction it seemed well researched.

I'm sure it will go down a treat for others, as it seems tick a lot of the diversity boxes.

This is an unusual story about a mulatto slave girl, who is bought to London, but passed onto a couple to be their servant. Frannie is unusual because she can read and write. She works around the house, until the mistress decided she can be her secretary. The mistress is also taking laundanum, and has some pecualir turns with it. Frannie falls in love with her, but also wonders why the master is studying her. Eventually she finds herself taking laudanum, and becomes hooked on it. SHe is thrown out of the house, and ends up in a salon for fallen women who sell themselves for money.
She eventually goes back to the house, and finds herself in between the master and the mistress. She ends up stabbing at least one of them, and is betrayed by the housekeeper, and ends up in jail, where the warders torment her. The details of her trial are both shocking and tortuous, and she is eventually sentenced to hang.
This story felt a little too long, and sometimes had unecessary detail in it. The characters are well drawn, but the conclusion is inevitable.

I found this book interesting and quite believable. Fannie really came alive for me particularly during her trial . The reason for the 4 stars only is because I found the book just a bit too long; too much description at times which didn't add anything.
The story starts with Fannie growing up in a Jamaican sugar plantation ,the master of which is a strange scientist. Through his connections Fannie arrives in London where she works for another scientist and his wife......the trial is the result of Fannie being accused of killing both of them.

Frannie Langton is on trial - the 'Mulatta Murderess', prosecuted for the murder of her master and mistress, Benham and his wife Marguerite.

Frannie is convinced she did not kill Marguerite, her lover, yet the effects of laudanum means the truth is hard to uncover.

I really enjoyed this book - packed full of mystery, twists and thrills as the reader follows the story of Frannie from her rather macabre education on a Jamaican estate, her journey to London, and the fascinating characters surrounding her. Well recommended.

The synopsis of this book and the cover ( i admit to) attracted me to this book and was happy to be granted an advanced readers copy, so thank you for that, to Netgalley and the Publishers.

We are taken straight away into the story, which i really liked and into court where Frannie is charged with Murder, not on one but two counts, Her Mistress and Master.
The bodies were found in different parts of the house, but the thing is that, her mistress was in the same room as Frannie as they slept AND Frannie was found with blood on her and her clothes.

I just love a Historical Novel, especially one that sets up the story / plot like Collins does, she has grace in her penmanship and i was captivated by her prose.

Frannie has comes from the Plantations in Jamaica and it seems that her only crime, really ( this is not a spoiler) was to be born mixed raced, especially in the century in which this book is set, the 1800's and when you find out who her parents are.

We read alot of injustice to not only Frannie, but of her race and gender, we get to know Frannie throughout the book as she writes from her prison cell.

I have seen this described as a gothic thriller, to me Gothic means the atmosphere of Frankenstein, this was not that for me, it was a Thriller for for, but it gave me an altogether feeling.

I really enjoyed this book and I am eargly awaiting the release date in April 2019 , so i can get my hands on a beautiful copy and add it to my collection. I am also going to get it on audiobook, just to see how the narrator deals with the content.

I feel I have said alot of words, but failed in portraying the feel you get from this book, and for that readers, i apologise.
Read this for yourself and let me know what you think!

Very enjoyable historical drama. I was so sad at the end, but it was all inevitable, I guess. Recommended

It took me ages to get through this book because I had to keep taking breaks and reading something else. The pace is very, very slow moving and it tackles some heavy issues but it's not the most interesting of storylines. So I struggled to read it, I had to keep taking breaks to read something else and then come back and read a bit more.

The story only picked up at the end when it turns to the actual trial but then that is just rushed through in a couple of chapters. Though since the trial itself only lasts a day and a half - a sham trial, the minds of the judge and jurors made up before they enter the room - it's actually a realistic representation. If there had been more of the events of that night or the things Frannie did when helping Langton with his experiments revealed at points through the book it might have added a bit more interest and life to the story. Most of it focuses on her obsession with Marguerite - something that never felt believable to me.

What I like most about this book is that Frannie is angry. She's not a kind-hearted, self-sacrificing good girl. She's angry at the way she's treated and she doesn't win people over with the kindness of her heart and you can believe it is quite possible she might actually have murdered her master and mistress.

I also liked that it goes in-depth into the overt sexism and racism prevalent at the time and the viewpoint from the slave is done realistically. I can feel Frannie's frustration at her situation coming off her in waves. An intelligent woman who would be happy with just a bit of free time to read a book every now and again, she is treated as a savage and a beast by everyone around her.

This book has a lot to say and it's worth reading for its viewpoint on race and slavery alone. I just found it too slow to hold my interest for long periods of reading and it's also a bit dreary and very depressing.

I hesitated before I picked up this book, because I thought that it might be just another example of a kind if book that I have read many times before. I did pick it up, and I was glad that I did as soon as I read the author’s introduction.

<i>‘On the small Carribean island where I grew up, I re-read ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’, trying to imagine windswept moors, drawing rooms draped in silk and sighing women, and men dashing about on horses – corrupting or taming or rescuing.

My own word stretched to coconut trees and white sand. Nothing from it ever made an appearance in those pages. At some point their came a realisation that those books I loved didn’t quite love me back. And that left questions in their wake.

Why couldn’t a Jamaican former slave be the star of her own gothic romance? Why couldn’t she be complicated, ambiguous, complex? Why had no one like that ever had a love story like those?’</i>

Frannie Langton, the star of this gothic romance, is a wonderful answer to those questions.

She was born a slave early in the 19th century, beginning her life as the only mulatto on a Sugar plantation worked by slaves belonging to the Langton family from England. The Master and Mistress brought her into the house, she was educated, but that left her isolated because she would never fit into their world and she couldn’t fit back into the world of her fellow slaves.

When circumstances forced the Master to return to England he took Frannie with him. She hope for freedom, for a new life; but he gave her to friends, to becomes a servant in their grand house. She catches the eye of her new Mistress, she keeps Frannie close to her, and a bond grows between them ….

The story moves forward to tell the story of Frannie’s life in London and it looks backwards to tell the story of her childhood in Jamica.

Frannie has much time to think about her past, because one morning she awoke to find the Mistress she had come to loved lying dead and covered in blood. She was arrested, she was imprisoned, and she was put on trial. She knew that she hadn’t – that she couldn’t have – done what she was accused of, but she knew that the circumstances made her look guilty and that her background and her situation would be held against her, and she wanted to understand how her life had reached that point, because she had a great many questions about her own past that she could not answer.

Sara Collins writes so well. The cast of characters is wonderful, and each and every one of them has different aspects – nobody is there simply to play a part, they are all fully realised human beings who have pasts – and hopefully futures. That cast is deployed well in an engaging plot, and interesting questions are explored along the way.

The atmosphere is wonderful, allowing the characters and the story to live and breathe, and bringing the period and two very different characters to life.

The prose is gorgeous and Frannie’s voice rang true.

<i>‘English rain weighs nothing. It’s the air that is heavy, and always has the seep of water in it. The streets were wet, and seemed to be tumbling under some giant peggy-stick. I stood there among the dizzying clatter of hammers and scaffolds and barrows moving piles of bricks that were either crumbling our of buildings or being plastered into them, so it seemed to be a city building itself and eating itself at the same time. Waiting carriages lined up along the high wall, horses shying under the dark bulk of warehouses. A crossing-sweeper was knocked down and the line of foot passengers just curved around him, like a river around a rock.’</i>

I loved the way that the author honoured her influences while telling her own story. That passage made me add Dickens to the list of names that were mentioned in the introduction. I was disappointed thought that there were elements in this story that were over-familiar from other recent books that were set in the same period, and that the set-up of the murder mystery was rather too elaborate and improbable.

That meant there were too many times when this book felt generic, and the writing and the ideas underpinning the story were so much better than that.

This is a promising debut but I think – I hope – that the author will go on to write better books.

An intriguing look at slavery through a sensational crime, this is a well written, interesting story, especially the part set on plantation. Excellent scene setting and atmosphere.