The Confessions of Frannie Langton audiobook

No one knows the worst thing they’re capable of until they do it.---------------------------------------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? London, 1826. We know that George and Marguerite Benham are dead. We know that their mulatta Jamaica servant, Frannie Langton, has been charged with two counts of murder and is facing trial at the Old Bailey. We know that Frannie was reputed to have had a particularly intimate relationship with the Missus. And we know that Frannie was found asleep in Mrs. Benham’s bed when her mistress’s bloody body was found. We know that Frannie has refused to speak in her own defense. What we do not know is what really happened. Frannie herself can only recall parts of it. From her cell, she writes her story for her barrister, her confession. I really wanted to write a gothic novel because I feel that the gothic is an amazing form for writing about the hidden darkness beneath the surface of things and all the terrors that we’d rather not speak about.- from the Foyles video“I wanted a Jamaican woman in Jane Austen territory,” she says. “I wanted to see what would happen to someone like Frannie making her presence felt in these sophisticated Georgian drawing rooms.” - from the Guardian interview Sara Collins - image from HarperThis is not the sort of Gothic novel that deals in things supernatural, although it does deal in unspeakable abominations. There is, of course, darkness aplenty, solely in the consideration of the degradation of slavery, unadorned. The depths to which some might go to rationalize their positions in this peculiar institution adds a level of awfulness. There is no need for spectres or phantasms when the realities are so grim. But there is plenty of mystery and suspense. Overwrought emotion is also on full display, with Frannie having plenty of reasons to be concerned about her safety, and Marguerite adding a similar set of worries. Distress? Persistent. And you have your choice of powerful, tyrannical males making life miserable, with Langton in Jamaica and Benham in London. No secret passageways, sorry. Frannie recalls her days as a slave in Jamaica, her upbringing under the guidance of the maternal Phibbah, a source of wisdom and advice, and a nifty substitute for the usual gothic omens and portents. When young Frannie shows an interest in books, Mis-bella, the lady of the house (or cane plantation) teaches her to read. When his usual set of extra hands becomes unavailable, Langton uses her as an assistant for his work in The Coach House. Cue thunder and lightning. The building is shrouded in mystery. We know only that Langton is engaged in scientific (well, probably not, as his work involved, at least, phrenology) experiments there, and Frannie helps with record-keeping and we know not what else. We know that the experiments have to do with race, and that, whatever he is up to, Langton has lost the support of his main sponsor. So, nicely ticking most of the gothic boxes. I saw things in that coach house that I can’t stop seeing now. But worse than the things I saw are the things I did.Two women face the bindings of different forms of subjugation, the placing of heavy weights on their spirits until, it is expected, all hope will be crushed. But is it not wonderful thing for a Jamaican slave to be brought to London where she becomes a lady’s maid? And is it not a boon for a young high-spirited French emigre of modest means to be married to one of the shining scientific lights of the age? Well, maybe not, if either wants to retain dominion over her own thoughts and interests. One of the great strengths of this novel is how powerfully it portrays the parallels between slavery and women’s role in marriage in the Georgian era. Where I come from, there’s more than one way a man gives you his name. He marries you or he buys you. In some places that is the same thing, and they call it a dowry… Frannie and Marguerite’s relationship offers the romantic element of the novel. It is riveting while not particularly graphic, and is more effective for that.Collins makes regular use of literary references, particularly Gothic litrefs to underscore the themes of the book. The Castle of Otranto, widely recognized as the first gothic novel, is mentioned, highlighting Frannie’s perilous state. Frankenstein comes in for a mention as well. What did you make of me? A patchwork monster. A thing sewn from Langton’s parts. Will Frannie, like Frankenstein’s monster, turn on her maker? Her interest in reading certainly parallels the big guy’s, as does her loneliness. Like him, she wants to learn, grow intellectually, be accepted. Non gothic writings are referenced as well. Repeated mentions of Moll Flanders alert us to the fact that sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to stay alive in this world, Newgate Prison offering another link between Frannie and Moll. Voltaire’s Candide comes in for multiple mentions as well, no doubt a reminder to keep unwarranted optimism at bay. Particular attention is paid to memory and the question of what lies beneath the surface. …the mind is its own place, as Milton said, it can make a Hell of Heaven and a Heaven of Hell. How does it do that? By remembering, or forgetting. The only tricks a mind can play. I expect the mind can manage a wider range, but Frannie’s memory is definitely fragile as to the events leading up to her employers’ deaths. Dying men don’t just dwell on the past: they invent it. Langton, seeking to justify his slave-holding, has a particular concern with race, skin color, and where the outward appearances may or may not manifest below the skin. It is eminently clear that the respectability worn on the outside by many bears little resemblance to the corruption beneath. Frannie’s education and intelligence are invisible to any who see only her profession(s) and outward appearance.All is craft alone, however magnificently written, in the absence of characters we can care about (and in some instances boo and hiss at) Fear not. You will love Frannie. She is as lovingly developed a lead as you could possibly hope for, rich with history, introspection, courage, smarts, and passion. You may find yourself, over the course of the book thinking, “If this girl killed those people, they surely must have had it coming.” Marguerite is also beautifully drawn. Although a much less appealing person than Frannie, she is a bright light in a dark place, also attempting to find her way through a life in which she is not allowed be her true self. This is one of the best novels I have read this year. Not only does it address the timeless subject of slavery, it does so in a way that points out that it was not only black people who were treated as objects. The parallel between Frannie and Marguerite is magnificently realized, making us see the chains that hold them both, and see how they struggle or succumb, pointing both to a common fate. Not having been around in 1826, (I just seem that old) I could not say if the presentation of the time was real or not, but it certainly felt real from this perch in the 21st C. Collins has a remarkable gift for language that is as sweet as the subject matter is sour. (I was wearing out my ancient fingers transcribing quotes from the book, only a few of which have found their way into this review.) It is entertaining and riveting. The reveals are satisfying, the twists effective. The Confessions of Frannie Langton, one of the best books of 2019, is a magnificent achievement. YOU MUST READ THIS!!!Review first posted – May 17, 2019Publication date----------May 21, 2019- Hardcover----------May 26, 2020 - Trade PaperbackNovember 29, 2019 - The Confessions of Frannie Langton is short-listed for the Costa Book Awards Best First Novel Award =============================EXTRA STUFFLinks to the author’s Instagram, Twitter and GR pagesItems of Interest-----Harper Books- Sara Collins on her debut novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON - Collins talks about loving period fiction and wanting to see a black character in a gothic romance-----Foyles - The Confessions of Frannie Langton: Sara Collins on researching her debut novelI really wanted to write a gothic novel because I feel that the gothic is an amazing form for writing about the hidden darkness beneath the surface of things and all the terrors that we’d rather not speak about. I found in the course of researching it there were all these sinister experiments that had been taking place since the early seventeenth century, starting with skin, but through the centuries moving to measuring skulls and brains and intelligence which seemed to me to reflect a lot of obsession of other races, and so I wanted to explore that but I also wanted to look at the ways in which many of the upper class women in Georgian society were oppressed as well, and marriage was one of the key tools for that. -----Shelfie with Sara Collins - On books that inspired her -----Lithub - Gothic Themes Bring Us Together - by Catherine Cavendish - A fun piece for fans of gothic literature, with excellent recommendationsBooks mentioned in the novel, on Gutenberg-----The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole-----Mathilda by Mary Shelley – on Gutenberg – This novella is mentioned in the book, but it was not actually published until 1959, so the characters are unlikely to have had access to it. -----Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe-----Candide by Voltaire

I appreciated the dark gothic tone of this story, and there were so many lines I wrote down because they were beautifully written. Here's one of my favorites: "I think the point of reading is not to feel more of a part of the world, but less. To take oneself out of it. On paper, everything can be hammered into shape, though the world is shapeless." This book definitely isn’t for everyone since it can be quite slow, but I still liked the prose even though the journey moved at a crawling pace. I wish the ending had been more emotionally satisfying or at least give a punch in the gut.

Update: this is a steal for $1.99!!! Terrific- well written thought provoking novel. It’s a fairy new release ... great kindle price! “Noir fiction is a literary genre closely related to hardboiled genre, with distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator. Other common characteristics include a self destructive protagonist”. Frannie Langton, (mulatta, house-girl on a sugar plantation in Jamaica to a bought slave, ‘Abigail’/Secretary....in 1820’s, London)....fits the *noir’ description to a ‘t’. She’s accused of murdering her employers, George Benham and his wife Marguerite.....a victim, a suspect, a perpetrator....and at times is self destructive. We love the many layers of Frannie Langton... (literate, strong-like-bull-courageous - doubtful - angry - witty)....but cards are stacked against her. Frannie was a a slave. She was black/mulatta. She was a woman. She loved a privileged white woman. She was accused of a double murder.LIFE COULD NOT BE MORE IMPOSSIBLY DEVASTATING....Freedom, power, and dignity stripped away from birth. An unfathomable horrific life ahead....Frannie’s salvation to suffering was reading and love. Seriously- if there was ever an antidote to suffering....‘love & reading’ was the best ‘soul-surviving’ way to quietly experience joy within bleak circumstances.....Reading - and then love - was Frannie’s greatest self-medicating-gift. Sara Collins packs a punch ....Noir, historical fiction, gothic, murder thriller mystery, horrific science inquiry-experiment to examine black inferiority- slavery, race, class, women, drug addiction, prejudice, arrogance, righteousness, sadness, grief, frustration, confusion, anger, guilt, injustice, intrigue, courage, lies, forbidden relations, romance, passion, love, desire, adultery, sex, a courtroom trial in London, with journal entries, testimonies from witnesses, and a gripping ‘life’ confession - not just what happened the night of the brutal murders - but a full-life-story fromFrannie Langton written to her lawyer representative. I mean...WOW!!! This is a debut?/!!!!!!Captivated from the start to the end... a few sluggish challenges for me in the middle section slowed down my reading -but....I’ve been obsessively thinking about this novel for a couple of days...( had several conversations with my husband)...I’ve only read one other review of this novel so far.All I remember was that Bonnie was blown away!!Well... me too!!!The WRITING is gorgeous- thought provoking fascinating - with good and evil characters. Frannie writes: “My mind races. It’s my own self I’m trying to outrun. When I reach inside, there’s nothing. That trick, somewhere between remembering and forgetting - the only refuge I have left”. Frannie writes ( about Meg.. Marguerite/Madame of the house in London)....“We were happy, no matter what is said about it now, no matter that they’re saying it was me who broke her happiness, and broke her. As soon as I write that, as soon as I even think it, my hand trembles. I must stop here. I fear I’ll dig this nib through that paper, to keep from turning it on myself”. In the 1820’s....“Every black in London was either a maid or a whore or a prizefighter”. George Benham speaking:“Women focus on what they lack, men and what they want. In all those Bible stories, it’s always the women who look back, who eat the forbidden fruit, who weep over hollow wombs, and fruitful ones. Yearning is always a woman’s sin”. The men never turn around, nor ever think twice about taking a knife - or a cross- to their own longed-for-sons”. It was men like George... that had Frannie’s anger rise. We can feel the gut- wrenching hostility Frannie feels for that wicked man...something she shares in common with Meg Beham/his wife. “I was angry, yes”.“The real madness would have been if I had not been angry”. Great descriptions:“Flashes of silk, among the black suits, like oil on water. Ladies in their dresses, gentlemen in their tails. Here were people the world tells us to admire. I pictured their tinkling laughter choked off by the fear of being whipped, like dogs. Standing in the kind of heat that closes your throat, glancing up at a sun that might kill”. Books were Frannie’s companion. She was grateful she could learn ‘something’ no matter how she came to do so. “It was a way to know that lives could ‘change’, that they could be filled with adventures.! There were times I pretended I was a lady in a novel or a romance myself. It might sound foolish. But it made me feel a part of a world that otherwise I can never belong to.” Guilt, feelings of unworthiness, and anger were ‘tied-emotions’ Frannie lived with. At times she was her own worse enemy. “I felt myself tipping forward, my throat clogged with anger, thick and dry as cotton. I let it swell inside. I welcomed it. Into the silence tipped the truth: my anger was aimed at ‘myself’”. ....Atmospheric novel!....Monster Slave owners.......A very different kind of slavery story........First person narrative.......Thrilling mystery........Frannie is a character worth remembering. Fact is - she is hard to forget. 4.5 stars!

April, 1826. The gallery at the Old Bailey was filled to overflowing with "quality folk" and "ordinary folk" there to witness the trial of Frances Langton, indicted for the willful murder of George and Marguerite Benham. Frannie's owner George, was found stabbed to death in the library while wife Marguerite, was discovered in her bedchamber. Frannie was soundly asleep next to Madame's body. Frannie's hands and shirt sleeves were covered in blood.Frannie had refused or was unable to discuss what happened that night. Defense lawyer, John Pettigrew, suggested that she explain herself using paper and quill. "My intentions in writing my jailhouse musings, ...it's my life, I want to assemble the pieces of it myself". "For every crime there are two stories, and that an Old Bailey trial is the story of the crime, not the story of the prisoner. That story is the one only I can tell". Frances Langton was born in Paradise, Jamaica. She worked in the lower field "throwing dung into cane holes" until age seven when she became a house-girl for Miss-bella Langton. Sitting by the water one day, Frannie accidently knocked Miss-bella's book into the water. The punishment, the book must be dry before she would be allowed to come indoors. At first, she thought the letters in the book were "trapped, each shackled to the next one", but reading would become her salvation. There were those who believed that slaves, as property, should not be exposed to new ideas.Master Langton manipulated Frannie's love of reading for his own means. Langton and Benham were rivals studying anatomy but both proposed to "...compile a survey of the natural mental endowments of each race of men..." As a reader and writer, Frannie "scribed" for Langton and was eventually forced to start participating in the performance of other duties.One day, Langton took Frannie to Levenhall, the London residence of George Benham. She was given as a "gift" to Benham. Under-maid Prudence "...feared I'd howl, bare my teeth...it's all savagery where you come from..." Housekeeper, Mrs. Linux resenting Frannie's presence told her to be quiet, no shirking and no thieving. In Levenhall, Frannie experienced intense love and raging hate. A good servant must know her place, but book learning created a modicum of freedom for her."The Confessions of Frannie Langton" by Sara Collins displayed the haunting, devastating life of Frances Langton, as written by Frannie herself, in Newgate Prison awaiting trial in Old Bailey. Through Frannie's account, we learn of the ghastly experiments performed to determine the intellect of slaves, assuming their inability to learn. We learn of the co-dependency of Frannie and Marguerite Benham. Court testimony conjures up a "snapshot" of how the prosecution viewed the suspect. Is Frannie aka the "Mulatta Murderess", so named by the press, guilty of a double murder? Read it and find out! I highly recommend this debut historical mystery by Sara Collins.Thank you HarperCollins Publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Confessions of Frannie Langton".

I think the premise of the book is brilliant- a former slave girl, educated, brought to London, more intellectual than the "free white folk", determined, not bent, headstrong. And I was so excited when I read in the beginning of the novel, that this will not be a slave's story, which we have read many more times, but it will be a black Jane Eyre, a Jamaican girl's own gothic romance. I was a bit disappointed that it took 15% of the book to go to London, and it did take long to open up the plot, but I loved the ending. I was in between 3 and 4 but settling in 4 stars!

3.5 stars Watch my full review: https://youtu.be/esY4QJJYr4I

Collins is my new favourite Author, she really has such an amazing ability to make her characters so powerful in lots of aspects, I really enjoyed all the choices she wrote within this beautiful book!The book is merged with compulsion, lies and murder. It has a very complexed story that follow Frannie a brave and clever girl which survives lots of awful things, topics that were elaborated in a perfect way!.Sara has written a really powerful debut which describes the story of the slave trade and what it is like to live as one in them times! Frannie's father was white and the time she was living people were still in thoughts that black humans are a disgust and when you read this point of view I really love how Sara has portrayed it, the settings were astounding beautifully written, the book is really thought-provoking!.The slave narrative is really powerful, and very unique in a kind of way, it makes you think how and why were people like that! I felt lots of discomfort parts within the book but they were unfortunately in real so mixed emotions through reading will take part and that's no denying! The story is very well-researched and you can tell that in every chapter, reading for a young girl of surviving the slave life is obviously intriguing so this was very interesting and magnificent book! I highly recommend you to read this fascinating debut novel that I wish to see it in a major picture because it's worth for everyone to see it!!

Damn, Sara Collins can write! For a book that exuded so much sadness this was also imbued with such an overarching beauty that made its parallel stand out, in stark contrast, and made the events that unfurled all the more poignant for it.This is, as the title suggests, fictional Frannie Langton's autobiography of her life. She begins her tale in sun-ripened Jamaica, as a slave on a sugar plantation, and ends it in rain-soaked London, on trial for the murder of her employers. The reader is invited to bear witness to all the events in between, and her treatment at the hands of all those who saw a black-skinned Jamacain in the 19th century as nothing more than a possession.Whilst the ultimate mystery was at the heart of the narrative, the gentle unravelling of one woman's life, as she sought to prove her innocence and tell her own story, was where the prowess of this book stemmed from. And every part was of equal interest, despite the fact that all were steeped with the same heartbreak and mistreatment. Not for one moment did Collins allow the reader to overlook the harsh life of this one fictional character, whose story bears such a similar resemblance to so many others.

This was fantastic. A really brilliant historical fiction debut - beautifully written, compelling and fascinating. I highly recommend.

THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON features a complicated main character in difficult and unstable circumstances. I enjoyed that Collins created in Frannie a character that I felt I was supposed to side with and cheer on, but who at times was hard to fully get behind despite her abuses. At times Frannie does things that I couldn't truly blame her for but wished that she had done better. Although Collins doesn't have Frannie tell her story in a straight forward way it is laid out in a slow but steady manner. In THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON Collins tackles slavery, condescension, the experimentation, fascination, and fear of the black body by white men, the need for self identity independent of how others see you, and the all encompassing racism, bigotry, and sense of entitlement and superiority of whites over any other race-but especially people of African descent in a way that is sadly still relatable. Where you can find me:•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•Twitter: @monicaisreadingInstagram: @readermonicaGoodreads Group: The Black Bookcase

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 AwardsCosta 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.Read my full review of The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins on LonesomeReader

Beautiful, riveting, dark, and haunting. This is the story of Frannie Langton.... 1820s London Frannie has relocated to London from the sugar plantations of Jamaica. No longer a slave she’s now working for a British couple of privilege. Soon Franny finds out there are some similarities between slavery and being an English wife in the 1820s. She also soon finds her self in a forbidden and intimate relationship with Marguerite the lady of the house. When Marguerite and her husband George are found murdered and Franny is in bed laying next to marguerite’s bloody body. Franny is the number one suspect, but Franny cannot remember what happened. Did she kill her boss? Her lover? This was a stunning well-crafted story Steve’s in history with a Gothic feel. Franny is a character you can’t help but get behind. Much of her life has been tragic, she seems to constantly be used by people that don’t seem to value her as a person. I was so invested in the story I just really wanted to know what part Frannie played in this murder. I couldn’t believe she did it, but I could see that she had been driven to it. This is a story that will stick with you long after you read the last page.This book in emojis 🗝 📚 ✒️ *** Big thanks to Harper Collins or a copy of this book ***