Former slave Frannie Langton is warned early in her service to her London employer, George Benham, that "a good servant must know her place, to be content in it." Frannie readily admits that this has "always been my trouble. Never knowing my place or being content in it."

Frannie, who is fiercely independent, immediately likable and stubbornly contrary to the expectations of her role in society, shares many such admissions while awaiting trial for the murder of Benham and his wife, Marguerite. What Frannie can't account for is how she wound up covered in their blood and being charged with their murders. In an effort to make sense of it all, Frannie pens her life story from jail. What follows is a literary sojourn as Frannie explores her place in history through race, class and sexuality.

Set in the early 1800s, The Confessions of Frannie Langton begins with Frannie's life as a slave on a Jamaican plantation and her education in reading and writing. From there, she recounts how she attained her "freedom" when her master took her to London, where he "gifted" her to the Benhams, and how she eventually began a love affair with Marguerite. The story casually meanders through Frannie's narrative in a mostly linear fashion but is interspersed with snippets from the trial in progress, including damning testimony and fiery newspaper accounts, making certain that readers don't forget what's at stake.

First-time novelist Sara Collins, a lawyer of Jamaican descent and winner of the 2015 Michael Holroyd Prize for Creative Writing, crafted her debut as a tribute to Jane Eyre, "but with a protagonist who would have lived outside the margins set by history." In that regard, Collins has succeeded admirably, resulting in a novel that reads like a classic gothic romance.

Accused of murdering her employers in Georgian London, Frannie Langton recalls nothing about the event but everything about her childhood on a Jamaican plantation and apprenticeship with an ethics-breaching scientist. A debut from a Michael Holroyd Prize winner; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

DEBUT Awaiting trial in 1826 for the murder of scientist George Benham and his French wife, Marguerite, Frannie Langton shares her story. Born in Jamaica, mixed-race Frannie is taken from the slave quarters to serve the plantation's mistress, who treats her cruelly. Learning to read enlarges Frannie's world but also allows her to record the master's experiments—cranial measurements, cadaver dissections, forced mating—to prove black people's inferiority. After Mr. Langton takes her to London to serve Benham in the hope the scientist will endorse his work, Frannie attracts the attention of the eccentric Marguerite, eventually becoming her lady's maid and lover, while trying to control Marguerite's opium addiction. Cast out temporarily, Frannie survives by catering to white men's masochistic fantasies in a notorious brothel. Her return culminates in the Benhams' deaths, although she cannot remember the events. Interspersed throughout the narrative are sections from Benham's journals, witness statements, and letters. But Frannie's powerful, painful recollections will haunt readers as she dredges memories twisted by abuse, violence, and drugs and tries to convince herself of Marguerite's devotion. VERDICT This dark, disquieting story may appeal to historical fiction fans with a penchant for the gothic. [See Prepub Alert, 11/11/18.]—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato

Collins's debut is a powerful portrayal of the horrors of slavery and the injustices of British society's treatment of former slaves in the early 1800s. Frannie Langton lives as John Langton's slave in Jamaica from 1812 until 1825. When the harvest burns, ownership of the land reverts to Langton's wife and her brother, and Langton returns to London with Frannie. Once in London, he gives Frannie as a servant to fellow scientist George Benham and his wife, Meg, a woman intrigued by Frannie and the breadth of her education. Benham asks Frannie to spy on Meg, whom he thinks might do something to embarrass him socially; meanwhile, Frannie and Meg become lovers. But when Benham and Meg are murdered, Frannie is arrested. She claims no memory of the crime, and a good defense seems unlikely both because of her race and her spotty memory. Frannie's dislike of Benham, her jealousy of his relationship with Meg, and memory gaps caused by Frannie's use of laudanum add to the reader's uncertainty of her involvement. This is 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. (May)