‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins tells the story of a Jamaican woman enslaved as a child, exploited by two men and subsequently accused of murder in Georgian London. I am left with the feeling that this debut, though full of lush description and a distinctive heroine, is an ambitious story that would benefit from being given some air to breathe.
Frances Langton, house-slave at Paradise, a Jamaica sugar cane plantation. Frances Langton, housemaid in the home of a London scholar. Frances Langton, the mulatto murderess. Which is the real Frannie? A woman born into slavery in Jamaica then transported to London and gifted to another master, in each place she is studied and manipulated by two men who cannot agree on the pigment of negro skin, the intellectual capacity of blacks and whether they can be educated. There are hints about things that happened to Frannie in her past, things that she did to others – leading I think to the description of the book as ‘gothic’ – some of which are explained by the end, some of which remained vague to me.
This is Frannie’s story, told in her voice, written as she waits in gaol for her trial and written for her lawyer. But we never actually meet this lawyer, he remains a cardboard cut-out so Frannie’s version of the truth remains unverified. We read the sworn testaments of witnesses at her trial, are they the truth or spoken with prejudice and ulterior motives? The book is really two stories – Frannie’s exploitation at Paradise by two men who fancy themselves scientists, and her London lesbian love affair and the murder – that don’t fit together convincingly.
The best thing for me about the book is the character of Frannie, unlike anything I have read recently. The depth of research is evident in the detail but the pacing is unpredictable – Frannie’s voice in the beginning is spellbinding but the middle section is soggy – and I’m intrigued by the scientific exploration of racism. I wanted less of the laudanum addiction and romance between Frannie and her mistress and longed for the trial to be used as the spine on which to hang Frannie’s slave story. A slow read, but definitely an author to watch.
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This is a really interesting novel that has strong themes around how voices are silenced, and also how women are treated in this time period. I found some parts of the book were so good that I just couldn’t put the book down but other parts were much slower that meant I needed to stop and take a break from it. I’ve found that whilst I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I’d hoped I would when I read it it, I keep finding myself thinking of Frannie in the weeks since I finished reading. This is a book that took a little time to make a mark on me but ultimately it has done so. It’s a really good historical fiction read and I can see why so many people love it.

The Confessions of France Langton is a compelling and interesting historical novel set in the early nineteenth century. The book opens with Frannie in the dock of The Old Bailey accused of murdering her master and mistress, George Benham and Marguerite Benham. Since her arrest Frannie has not spoken about that night as she can’t remember what happened. Whilst in her prison cell she writes down her confessions, her life story, in the form of a letter to her lawyer, John Pettigrew. It is this letter that makes up the majority of the book, with Frannie narrating her story from a young girl in Paradise, Jamaica to her becoming a maid at the Benham’s in London and the events of that terrible night. A deeply moving story, shocking in parts, this is an engaging and immersive read.

There is no doubt that Frannie is the heroine of this book, and one you can’t help but admire. As she tells her story you become invested in her, and as the plot moves towards the murder charge you will the outcome to be not guilty. Paradise was the plantation she was brought up on in Jamaica, but it was no paradise for her, the other slaves or in fact the owners. Frannie was a mulatta, her mother a black slave and her father, the owner of the plantation John Langton. This puts her in a strange position on the plantation, she is neither one thing or another. Taken on as a house slave due to her father she is not trusted by the other slaves, but in the house she is a slave to her mistress and Langton. This is a situation that seems to follow her around; at the Benhams she becomes a ladies maid to Maurgerite Benham where the other servants are mistrustful of her, but Mr Benham sees as a servant. Throughout her life she seems to occupy a grey area as she is educated by her father, an intelligent woman who can read and write, but ultimately seen as a heathen due to the colour of her skin. In every book there is a villain, and in this book there are two; John Langton and George Benham. As a child they used Frannie as an experiment to see if these heathens could be educated, and then used her abilities to help with their experiments, to their benefit.

Sara Collins has a wonderful writing style that makes this book flow beautifully and a pleasure to read. The historical detail is brilliant, and this detail is carried on to the very different settings in the book, the heat and dryness of Paradise to the cold, wet and dark city of London. The characters are richly drawn and have a gritty realism to them making them very believable, especially the rawness and honesty of Frannie. The tension is kept throughout as Frannie slowly reveals her story, and the build up to the murder and the huge question of what happened that terrible night and was Frannie capable of murder.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a rich and detailed historical novel, that is written with great thought and understanding. Frannie’s story is one of hardship, difference, strength, love and sadness, where she is treated as a commodity and a possession at the hands of white men. As a debut novel this is stunning and I can’t wait to read Sara Collins next novel; a wonderful read.

Just the kind of historical fiction I love! It reminded me of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace but more commercial.

The author starts this book saying she loved period romances but wanted something she could relate to, i.e. a black heroine. Franny Langton fits the bill. Having been born into slavery she is rises through the servile ranks but is apparently no happier for it. The book centres around her trial for murder. On occasion some of the dialogue switches between her trial and her story up to that point and it can get confusing for a moment until you realise where the tale is at. That aside, a nicely written book with an interesting story line. A bit of a 'twist' but didn't 'grab' me as much as I'd have liked but still an enjoyable read.

Sara Collins introducesThe Confessions of Frannie Langton with the question 'why couldn't a Jamaican former slave be the star of her own gothic romance?' and as such sets out to centre a gothic horror story around a black woman from Jamaica . Her wonderfully debut fully lives up to this intention, following in the vein of classic Victorian gothic horror, but with a refreshing perspective.

Frances begins her life as a slave in the house of a Jamaican plantation, when she is taken to England and given as a gift to to the Benhams. We know from the blurb that she is writing her 'confessions' from a prison cell, having been accused of murdering her master and mistress, when she was found asleep next to the body of the latter. The story begins in classic gothic style in a similar vein to Alias Grace, but Sara Collins' originality surprises you at every turn. The novel flashes back to Frances' life on the plantation, through to her arrival and life in London.

As well as the mystery and intrigue of how this crime comes to pass, Collins' novel is a rich exploration of life in Victorian England for a former slave girl. Add to those themes contemporary science of the period, exploration of class and even LGBT relationships, and Collins' novel becomes far more complex than the traditional gothic tale. The tale is compelling, leaving you desperate to find out Frances' fate. Collins' masterfully crafts a tale which isn't so much of a whodunnit, or even really a 'why' as this becomes apparent but becomes focused much more on the detail of Frances' experience. Through this Collins' presents an emotive and visceral narrative, and she builds touching, and complex relationships between female characters, all of which challenges traditional understandings of freedom and power.

While this is an incredibly important book for its socio-political explorations and for the representation it features, it is also a simply brilliant foray into a historical gothic fiction. As the nights get cooler and the season for spooky stories approaches, this is the perfect book to curl up with, and is one of the stand out books of the year.

Fantastically written narrative. Disturbing and gripping. Talented writer who compels the reader to bear witness to terrible acts against humanity, the grotesque nature of slavery and a society that is complicit in torture under the remit of knowledge.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a masterful debut.

There are many strands; coming-of-age tale, historical fiction, gothic novel, crime narrative, love story. Collins depicts a young woman who having spent her early life enslaved on a Jamaican plantation, is 'given' to a London gentleman and forms a bond with the lady of the house. Frannie takes control by using her voice to relate her own story, refusing to be silenced or misrepresented by the people who have enslaved, abused and imprisoned her.

Recommended if you enjoyed Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and/or Laura Purcell's The Corset.

I was so excited to read this - I really was, especially as I love historic fiction. However I really struggled with it - so much so that I actually gave up on it. I just did not enjoy it. Sorry!

A servant who was a slave in Jamaica is accused of the brutal murder of her employer and his wife.. The character of Frannie Langton leaps from the page in this historical thriller which has the varying settings of Georgian London and a sugar plantation in Jamaica.

Did she do it? If she did why? In this sense it it a page turner and kept me absorbed to the last page.

The narrative structure weaves together the past and present in a rich way - just like the beautiful embroidery on the wonderful cover.

Frannie is soon plucked from the fields to be a scientific assistant to the "massa" and learns to read. This sets her apart from other slaves. however her new life isn't all about privilege as her new role isn't all that it seems.

When she is taken to London she is "disowned" and ends up as a servant in another man's house. There she becomes an "abigail" to the frail mistress.who to escape her own abuse has turned to opium


Sara Collins explores race and women's roles. In exploring race she reveals different layers. There is an abolitionist who wants to know all the "gory" details. He wants to possess Frannie through owning her story in some sort of vicarious way. Women are not allowed to be educated but onlybe wives, whores and servants. It's significant that Frannie is fond of the book Moll Flanders who was also trapped within some of these roles.. Despite her education is Frannie able to escape from this.? Collins introduces the character of Laddie to widen out the race theme exploration as he is a black man within the same context. I guess Book Groups will discuss the two of them in a compare and contrast way.

The evil housekeeper Linux who testifies against Frannie is a woman warped by perceived power who recalls Mrs Danvers. Of course there are many literary echoes like Wide Sargasso Sea, and Sara Collins cites the Brontes as major influences.

Like Sarah Water's Fingersmith there is clever plotting. Will Frannie be convicted of the murder? Who are the mysterious babies mentioned ?
Frannie herself is a complex character who bubbles with ( righteous?) anger. She is not portrayed as a passive, vapid, suffering victim. The reader is not always sure how they would react to her if she were real.


Collins also explores themes of truth and memory that transcend race and gender.

"What would you want to be remembered for? If you had one last page and one last hour, what would you write?"

I thoroughly enjoyed this complex historical thriller with its exploration of many themes that resonate still with us today.

A stunning book as rich at the embroidery on its cover illustration.

This was a book i had to work hard at to read, in the end it got the better of me - and there's not many books that do that. Not for me I'm afraid.

Unfortunately I just did not enjoy this book. I found the plot unsettling and it was a real struggle to finish it. It was a disappointing read to be honest.

I was sent an uncorrected advance proof copy of The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins to read and review by NetGalley.
This novel is set in 1826 and is told in the first person by protagonist Frannie Langton, a mulatto (white father, black mother) girl from Jamaica who finds herself on trial at the Old Bailey in England accused of murdering her employers. The story weaves in and out of Frannie’s memories as she tries to make sense of her life and what has happened, much of which is fogged by her use of Laudanum. This is well written, evocative novel that captures the essence of the 1800s. A great read for those who are partial to an historical novel with a touch of sass!

Did Frances Langton commit murder?

It is 1826 and Frances Langton, also known as Ebony Fran and more recently the Mulatta Murderess, is on trial in London for the murder of her master and mistress. Somewhere in her confused mind, she knows that she could not have committed this atrocity. As Frances is shoved into the dock, she cannot but notice the items laid out on the bench – evidence against her. Then she sees it, and her innards twist into a knot as tight as the thing curled up in the jar.

Any crime has two stories – the story of the crime and the story of the prisoner. Frances Langton is given a fresh quill and instructions to explain herself. Instead, she writes her memoirs in an attempt to bring clarity. All Frannie remembers of that night is waking under the suffocation of blood-soaked bedsheets, her mistress lying dead beside her. Perhaps if she starts from the very beginning, in Paradise, and follows the thread of her life, she can make sense of it all. Recollections of the Langton sugar plantation in Jamaica bring memories of Pibbah and Miss-Bella. They were the three women of Paradise. But Paradise was a place of injustice, and Frances knows it is time to confess to the inhumanity committed for Langton’s masterpiece. What she would have done for it to go up in flames, along with the six-hundred and twenty-seven skulls. She had noted each skull in the ledger and to what purpose? Could evidence ever exist that as blackness was passed through sperm, so was the lack of intellect, morality and ambition? And then London, where she thought she would be Langton’s girl, his maid even. Instead, she was tossed aside as compensation for a favour.

The content of this novel is a representation of the injustice of inhumanity in the name of science. Due to the dense thematic quality and the intriguing storyline, I found this a compelling read. Collins writes fluidly, and her imagery and manipulation of language bring the story alive. A superbly written novel that touches on more than one element of the human condition and depicts the suffering of the powerless at the hands of the powerful.

Ange

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

Beautiful story of love and freedom, but also addiction and pain.

Life is complicated, and Frannie Langton's life is no different. Born a slave in Jamaica, she's forced to take part in her master's experiments on bodies, then brought to London and offered to a different man. But this new master has a wife, who will introduce Frannie to both pleasure and drug - in a passionate and tumultuous relationship. Until the day she dies... Did Frannie murder her mistress?

The book is an indictment of slavery, with the question of whether or not the 'Negroes' are human beings. It's also the downward spiral of a woman restricted by her condition and by the society, who never stood a chance.

What a debut! A fascinating tale of Frances Langton, a mulatta, born in Jamaica and then taken to England by her 'owner' and left with a family and finally tried in the Old Bailey for the murder of the husband and wife of the house. The writing tells the story in pictures because the descriptions are so well portrayed; the characters, good and bad, are fascinating; Frannie's experiences are many and obviously much of the story draws on actual instances from the 1800s. Frannie is used and abused and deserves our sympathy.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Sara Collins/Penguin Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

The title character is a half coloured child of the plantations. Her education and attractive looks make her an oddity in Georgian London.

The early part of the book is quite interesting, but as the tale gets darker and darker it becomes very depressing, no doubt as a result of the author’s skill. One feels one is trudging though a Laudenam induced fog and becoming as begrimed as Frannie’s gown in the damp, grey streets she roams.

The only likeable character is a housemaid Prue who tries to warn Frannie when her actions are making her future very precarious. This is not heeded and events deteriorate to a very dark place.

Not a book I would have chosen had I known the path it would take, but it is very powerful writing

On trial for murder Frances Langton is called the Mulatta Murderess by the popular press and the whole of London is crying to see her hang. She has supposedly killed her master and mistress in the home but is that the whole truth? Born a slave in Jamaica Frannie is taught to read by her master and helps him conduct vile experiments in the name of science. Brought to England Frannie is placed with My Benham and his beautiful wife, Marguerite. The Benham house is full of secrets and so is Frances' mind and love is never far from hate for those born into slavery.
This is a terrific book. It manages to weave together several big themes - slavery, science, the plight of women in the early nineteenth century - and yet still be a passionate and moving tale with a little magic in it. Frances' confession builds upon Rousseau's ideas alluded to early on and joins with a little Defoe and Richardson. The horrors of plantation life are vivid and the horrors of Langton's experiments no less so despite not being described in detail.

Content-wise Sara Collins’s The Confessions of Frannie Langton has just about everything — drama, passion, violence, murder, opiates, illegitimacy, mixed-race relationships (a big no-no in nineteenth century London), lesbianism (ditto) and more. It was a whirling dervish of a journey from Jamaican slave plantations to Newgate Gaol via luxurious London mansions and the whorehouse.

If I had to pick a single theme from it I couldn’t. It touches on education, on racism, on scientific ethics, on forbidden love, on the oppression of women regardless of their race or class, and on more besides. It’s rich and it’s complex. In summary, the story is that of Frances Langton, mulatto maid to a London couple, on trial for their murder, and the story unwinds through her confession, the story of her life. Frances can’t defend herself because she has no memory of the events that led up to the crime and it’s only by unpicking her life that she comes to understand.

I feel in my head that this is a very good book, but somehow my heart just didn’t buy into it. Perhaps it’s because it’s so complex that it becomes bewildering, or perhaps it’s because I found the central part of it slow. And while the characters were all brilliantly drawn — no, exposed — I didn’t find any of them likeable. Even Frannie herself, a strong woman and a heroine I feel I should be rooting for, was someone I couldn’t quite engage with as much as I wanted to.

There’s a lot to commend the book. The writing is powerful, though I thought it could have been pared down in certain places, and the scene-setting is lavish, bringing the smell of the burning sugar cane plantation into my nostrils, the sweaty claustrophobia of Newgate prison into my living room. The issues are important. But somehow, for me, the chemistry wasn’t quite there and the whole was less than the sum of its parts.

But don’t be put off. I think it’s a better book than I’m giving it credit for.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books for a copy in return for an honest review.

This was a really sumptuous exploration of the life and love of a former slave living in England in the 1820s. When we meet Frannie, she is in Newgate prison accused of murdering her employers. What follows is a series of flashbacks that follow Frannie from the plantation in Jamaica where she was a house slave for a particularly unsavoury character, through to her arrival in London and her presentation to George Benham as an educated black woman ripe for study. The writing was beautiful and heartfelt and the pacing was really compelling, albeit there were a couple of areas that felt a little repetitive on occasion. Frannie remains something of an enigma throughout, holding herself at arms length from the audience, which I found intriguing. There were times when the plot would jump suddenly, which could be a little jarring, but overall, I thought this was a well constructed and fascinating narrative that would appeal to fans of Sarah Waters.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.