I was first drawn to reading “The Confessions of Frannie Langton” after watching the author Sara Collins discuss it in such a compelling way on the first episode of The Big Scottish Book Club which aired on BBC Scotland last year. And I felt drawn to it again when it was recently listed for the Costa Book Awards (and won the First Novel category.) I'm so glad I finally got to it because it's an utterly captivating historical novel with a feisty and intelligent protagonist who has many secrets and an enthralling story to tell.
The novel begins in the early 1800s where Frannie is on trial for the murder of Mr and Mrs Benham. As she waits in her prison cell she writes her account of what happened and describes her journey from being born a slave on a Jamaican plantation to working as a maid for the couple she's eventually accused of murdering. She describes horrifying scientific experiments that were performed on humans, the effects of laudanum addiction, the taboo of same-sex love and takes us into the seedy underworld of London's brothels. These elements result in a story that feels somewhere between the novels “Washington Black” and “Fingersmith” which, as far as I’m concerned, is very high praise! What draws all this together and makes this novel utterly unique is Frannie's distinct and convincing point of view. She makes shrewd observations about attitudes towards class and race as well as the nature of being, the meaning of literature and the complications of love.
Early in her life Frannie was taught to read and write for reasons that eventually become clear, but it wasn't for her own personal development. However, it awoke within her a love for literature and she craves the company of books whenever she has access to them. Naturally this makes her a sympathetic character and being well educated gives her the ability to record her own story where many people from her background could not. Yet, we also get the perspectives of numerous other characters through dialogue, the testimonies given in court and occasional accounts from various individuals which are inserted into the text. It's clever the way this shows how Frannie could sometimes use people's assumptions about her to her own advantage, but it's also heartrending in the way it reveals how many underestimated her or used her as a pawn in their own schemes.
Frannie tells a captivating and meaningful tale with a viewpoint that still has a lot of relevance today. I also can't think of another character I'd rather take for a drink and exchange books with so we can have long discussions about what we've read. This is such an impressive and memorable debut novel. I hope Sara Collins writes more in the future.
