對於夫人的死，他們要求我坦白，但我該如何對自己坦承？
來自牙買加的女奴法蘭妮(Frannie Langton)，屬於英國一位地主朗頓(Langton)，從鄉村來到城市，最後被租借給一對年輕科學家夫妻，喬治本翰(George Benham)與他的妻子瑪格(Meg)。
起初喬治懷疑妻子瑪格對他不忠，造成社會上的不名譽。他派女奴法蘭妮做間諜，暗中調查。然而法蘭妮卻深深被瑪格吸引、傾慕她的學識淵博，最終她們發展出一段戀曲。
直到年輕的夫婦倆遭到謀殺，牽涉在兩人之間的法蘭妮嫌疑最深。眾口鑠金，何者才是真相？法蘭妮聲稱自己遺失了謀殺案發生期間的記憶，但這使得眾人更覺得她可疑。
一八二六年的倫敦，是瘋狂的城市，群眾聚集在老貝利街(Old Bailey)，目睹本翰夫婦的僕人，遭受逼問。證詞一一指向法蘭妮，人們毫不留情的譴責她：一名奴隸、蕩婦、誘惑他人的罪人......。如今法蘭妮必得如實吐出心中所有的秘密：一個從牙買加的農園女子，從剛開始讀書識字，到成為倫敦大城市中渴求自由的靈魂……這一路上關於她的故事。
她真的動手殺了最愛的人嗎？
撲朔迷離、懸疑感十足的謀殺案，圍繞著禁忌的愛戀、背叛、白人特權……在那之中，是一個底層之人對社會的犀利控訴。(文 / 博客來編譯)
A servant and former slave is accused of murdering her employer and his wife in this astonishing historical thriller that moves from a Jamaican sugar plantation to the fetid streets of Georgian London—a remarkable literary debut with echoes of Alias Grace, The Underground Railroad, and The Paying Guests.
All of London is abuzz with the scandalous case of Frannie Langton, accused of the brutal double murder of her employers, renowned scientist George Benham and his eccentric French wife, Marguerite. Crowds pack the courtroom, eagerly following every twist, while the newspapers print lurid theories about the killings and the mysterious woman being tried at the Old Bailey.
The testimonies against Frannie are damning. She is a seductress, a witch, a master manipulator, a whore.
But Frannie claims she cannot recall what happened that fateful evening, even if remembering could save her life. She doesn’t know how she came to be covered in the victims’ blood. But she does have a tale to tell: a story of her childhood on a Jamaican plantation, her apprenticeship under a debauched scientist who stretched all bounds of ethics, and the events that brought her into the Benhams’ London home—and into a passionate and forbidden relationship.
Though her testimony may seal her conviction, the truth will unmask the perpetrators of crimes far beyond murder and indict the whole of English society itself.
The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a breathtaking debut: a murder mystery that travels across the Atlantic and through the darkest channels of history. A brilliant, searing depiction of race, class, and oppression that penetrates the skin and sears the soul, it is the story of a woman of her own making in a world that would see her unmade.
Review
“Powerful. . . .both a highly suspenseful murder mystery and a vivid historical novel, but best of all is the depiction of Frannie, a complex and unforgettable protagonist. This is a great book sure to find a wide—and deserved—audience.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))
“Collins’ debut novel administers a bold and vibrant jolt to both the gothic and historical fiction genres. . . . Most of all, she has created in her title character a complex, melancholy, and trenchantly observant protagonist. . . . as dynamic and compelling as any character conceived by a Brontë sister. . . [a] gripping, groundbreaking debut.” (Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review))
“By turns lush, gritty, wry, gothic and compulsive, The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a dazzling page-turner. With as much psychological savvy as righteous wrath, Sara Collins twists together the slave narrative, bildungsroman, love story and crime novel to make something new.” (Emma Donoghue)
“From the sweltering heat of the West Indies to the rain-slicked cobbles of London, Collins transports her readers to the nineteenth century with an enthralling historical thriller. Frannie Langton is an unforgettable heroine, one who boldly reclaims her narrative within the context of a history that seeks to silence her. The Confessions of Frannie Langton is gorgeous—Gothic writing at its very best.” (Christine Mangan, bestselling author of Tangerine)
“Destined to become a benchmark for historical fiction, The Confessions of Frannie Langton is at once fiercely raw and remorselessly beautiful. Told from one of the most haunting perspectives I’ve ever encountered, Frances navigates life as a mixed-race house slave on her father’s plantation, as an unwilling scribe for his harrowing experiments, and as lady’s maid to the eccentric and passionate ‘Madame,’ whose secrets may possibly rival Frannie’s own. Our heroine’s unique insights are delivered in brutal poetry, and her passions rendered in lyrically erotic prose. A book to be devoured, marveled at, applauded—and yes, studied, for its ability to turn grim history into a wildly romantic expedition into the darkest corners of the human heart.” (Lyndsay Faye, internationally bestselling author of Jane Steele and The Gods of Gotham)
“A spectacular, dark novel, with elements of Jane Eyre and Paradise Lost. . . Just like all really good Gothic stories, it keeps you balancing right on the edge of not wanting to look, but feeling like you can’t look away. . . An absolute gem that points at you and asks whether it might be a sign of horrifying privilege, to enjoy a genre devoted to the grotesque.” (Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street)
“Sara Collins has created a tough, fiery, vividly alive character. Beautifully written, in crisp and careful prose; but more than that, it comes across as a story that’s been waiting to be written for a very long time…[Collins] has picked up the tradition of gothic fiction and made it brand new.” (Stef Penney, bestselling author of The Tenderness of Wolves)
“Frannie’s voice is compelling: tender and furious and wholly deserving of attention.” (Jessie Greengrass, author of Sight)
