Hi, it's Naomi back with another vlog for you. This time I'm going to be talking
about The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins. This is the author's
debut novel, it's a historical fiction set in the early 19th century. The novel
follows Frannie Langton who was born into slavery in Jamaica. She's then gifted to
a family in London and she was later accused of murdering that family. So the
novel opens at the Old Bailey where Frannie is being detained, she protests
her innocence and starts talking about her life story.
Frannie is actually taught to read by her mistress in Jamaica who she has quite a
turbulent relationship with and this unlocks a whole new world for her, gives
her somewhere to retreat to from the difficulties of her everyday life.
Reading and writing and self-expression are really big themes in this novel. As a
slave it's acted as if Franny is lucky to have been taught to read but at the same
time she experiences a lot of negativity about her abilities to read and write.
She's often seen as uppity or above her station, acting above her station by
other characters. And I think it just shows how much that if the ability to
read and write is kept from someone it can be used as an agent of control.
At the same time the mistress that she encounters in London she is allowed to
write by her husband but if she does, he does not allow her to publish. So she
feels like her voice is stifled somewhat as well. I think that's something that
draws the two characters together and perhaps helps them fall in love.
They're being bound by social convention and all these rules that are incredibly
unfair from a modernist perspective. The awful abuses at the plantation in
Jamaica are heartbreaking to read about. The racism, the physical abuse are just
awful. The author does an excellent job of
letting us know about the horrors of slavery whilst at the same
time giving a voice to a character who wouldn't have had one at that time in
history. The author actually talks a little about choosing to write an
enslaved character on the Shelfie video which is on this channel so I'd suggest
checking that out to hear from her. The author she said also she wanted to write
a gothic novel but she didn't want to use a traditional main character. She
didn't understand why a Jamaican former slave could not be the star of her own
gothic novel. And I quite agree with her and I think it's caused her to write
something that's quite unique and gives such a strong voice to a character
that's been marginalized in history. Collins I think has been inspired by
classic novels and the Gothic so we see the bildungsroman structure of
Jane Eyre. There are so many nods to Moll Flanders in this novel, the doomed sort
of gothic romance of Wuthering Heights is maybe in there too.
And then from modern authors there's maybe a pinch of Sarah Waters about the
romance and maybe the exploration into identity that we saw in Wide Sargasso Sea.
And all these books, all these inspirations, are lovingly respected
without making this novel become derivative at all. This is not a
retread, this is quite new ground and the author's done an amazing job of laying
tribute whilst at the same time creating her own path. The main character Frannie
is such a nuanced character with so much to say. The author's way with words just
completely endears you to her. Her plight to escape the death sentence is so
engaging. You're never sometimes quite sure
whether you're reading a whodunit or a why they done it, which reminded me of
His Bloody Project a little bit. But this is part crime novel, it's part gothic
romance; you get so so much from this novel. I wanted to find out the answers,
find out what happened, but at the same time I couldn't bear to rush
to the end because I really love the way the author writes. It's just so well
written and executed this book. This book is one for crime fans, for fans of
historical fiction and fans of the Gothic. There's so many different people
it's going to appeal to and honestly I think it's also got a great book club
potential as well. Honestly I'm looking forward to finding someone else who has
actually read this because I'd love to talk with them about it. So if you have
read the novel, have any comments, leave them down below and I'd love to hear
from you. It totally breaks new ground, it's her first novel but I'm so keen to
see what she does next. This author's career is one I'm going to
follow. It's a fantastic book, do pick it up. Thank you very much for listening
to me today. If you want to hear more from me, more from the other vloggers or
more from waterstones in general then please do subscribe to our channel and I
will see you next time. Thank you very much, bye-bye.