The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

This is yet another impressive debut novel written in an interesting style full of well-developed characters and an engaging, if at times distressing plot.  I have been continually pleasantly surprised throughout the pandemic restrictions by the quantity and quality of debut novels that I have encountered.  Sara Collins will be another author on my list to look out for.

Spanning 1812-1826 set in London and Jamaica, the novel opens with Frannie on trial at The Old Bailey.  We soon learn that she is charged with a double murder and nicknamed “The Mulatta Murderess” by the press.  After opening statements and an intriguing glimpse into her current predicament, the reader is whisked back in time to Frannie’s childhood on a sugar plantation in Jamaica, as she begins to write her Confessions.

This is not merely a slave story.  It is a Georgian gothic murder mystery with an intricate plot.  It is also a very different type of slave story to ones I have read before.  For a start it is primarily based in London rather than America.  It also has a large focus on white men’s scientific theories and experiments regarding the differences between white and black people.

As it is a written confession, the novel is mainly told by Frannie with everything presented from her perspective.  Therefore we don’t always get the full picture, often have to wait for our suspicions to be confirmed and are reliant on Frannie to tell us what happened.  The novel does also contain diary entries, newspaper clippings, witness statements and court extracts, which are obviously biased and are invariably used by the prosecution to support their case.  The placement of these throughout the novel is clever and helps to develop the plot and provides background information and interesting alternative viewpoints, as well as a short break from Frannie’s voice.

The concept of the unreliable narrator is present, as these confessions are being written for a purpose, so the reader must consider whether Frannie would willingly implicate herself.  There is also the question of subjective bias as well as definite issues with her memory, leading the reader to wonder whether they are being told the full story and accurate accounts of Frannie’s and other characters’ actions.

Captivity and racism are clearly the main themes of the novel, but there are more nuanced and particular elements considered.  The arrogance and cruelty of white English men is denounced and exposed, as well as the selfishness and spitefulness of white women.  Yet the novel also highlights the restrictions on white women within the patriarchal society and their tenuous and limited power.  The roles and spheres available to women in 1820s London were largely limited to wife, servant or prostitute, making “freedom” a less enticing prospect.  The lack of place and purpose within Georgian society of educated black people, beyond that of a guinea pig or show pony, is also illustrated.  Their subsequent arrogance and pretentiousness is an interesting, somewhat surprising by-product.

The story is full of questionable, often despicable characters.  No one is blameless or wholly likeable, but it is their flaws and egotism that make them real.  I very much enjoyed this novel, reading at speed which is not only encouraged by the pace of the writing, but also because I wanted to know what really happened.