Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Le confessioni di Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

14 reviews

hedgehogreads01's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

It took me almost a month to finish, as it feels a bit slow paced. Though it was easy for me to keep up with the characters and plot.
Well written, some quotes worth writing down, the character of Frannie Langton captured my attention every time I picked up the book, her voice loud and clear (even in laudanum stupor, it seemed), demanding the freedoms, the treatment each human being should have.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Murder, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, and Torture

emilo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Racism, Colonisation, Classism, Violence, Sexism, Self harm, and Miscarriage

weird_but_fucking_beautiful's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Confessions of Frannie Langton was my pick for my 52 in 52 prompt: book by a Caribbean author. Author Sara Collins slowly submerges you into the harsh unforgiving world of a young mulatto slave girl named Frannie. First impressions of Frannie is that she is an unreliable narrator trying to avoid a murder charge by writing her memories leading up to the charge in question as best as she recalls.. The mystery surrounding her time at the Langton’s and Benham’s fuels the narrative, but it is its underlying sense of foreboding that runs like a bleeding vein to the heart of the story. The 60% mark begins the unraveling. The free fall is delicious yet heartbreaking mix of truth, outrage, and despair. The injustices Frannie and the slaves at the plantation suffer due to the self serving whims of white men is both horrifying and reprehensible. Frannie’s disregard for social distinction, gender, and race mixed with her vulnerability and desires captures the innate essence of what we should all aspire to. Her addiction, helplessness, and subsequent guilt all combine to portray an all too real struggle. Ultimately though it is her “love” that proves to be both her saving grace and her fatal downfall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Body horror, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Hate crime, Addiction, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide

booksjessreads's review against another edition

dark informative sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read this a while ago but I remember really enjoying it. It was a very thoroughly told story which had convincing character descriptions and telling of events. I felt the story was very emotional in parts and I did feel very connected to Frannie. I think the story is well worth the read and I would definitely re-read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Colonisation, Blood, Slavery, Torture, Racial slurs, Murder, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

charlotte_louisee_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Incest

eli_jw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Addiction, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Torture, Drug abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Abortion, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Incest

cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Blood, Miscarriage, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Classism, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Murder, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Torture

liteartha's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Incest, Miscarriage, and Drug abuse

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very well-researched unfolding story. Maybe the writing style wasn't quite my favorite. But great for reflecting on parallels between the anti-slavery movement Brits of then and the the Black-square-posters of today - both finding social justice trendy, but not really looking to commit to actionable change.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, Medical content, Racism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Blood, Classism, Miscarriage, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Grief, Infertility, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty and Child death

If reading about babies and birth upsets you in any way, this book may not be for you.

marieketron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Review also featured on the Lesbrary This is not a happy book. It tells you that in the title already: the ‘confessions’ refer to Frannie’s written musings that she notes down while she is on trial for the murder of her employer and his wife–the latter of whom she happened to be in a romantic relationship with. Make sure to take note of the content warnings, and be ready for some gruesome scenes. All of this grimness does make for an appropriate setting to the troubles that Frannie is dealing with in the present moment of the story, but it can be overwhelming.

As Frannie recounts the events of her life that have led her to her current predicament, it takes a while for her supposed victims to take the stage, to the point I was becoming slightly impatient with the pacing. It opens with her life as a slave at the Langton plantation in Jamaica (which gave her the name she bears), where she was forced to serve her master as he carried out pseudo-scientific experiments with the aim to prove that African people were not human. That in itself is extremely horrific, and almost numbed me to the further events in the story. Of course, this history is important to understand–both in terms of general history and specifically for Frannie as a character. Still, even knowing that we are learning this history through the writings of Frannie herself, I couldn’t help but wish she would hurry up. Her lingering on this earlier part of her life creates a tense atmosphere, preparing the reader for all the awfulness to come, but this is an approach that either doesn’t work for me or I simply wasn’t in the mood for at the time.

Once Frannie arrives in London, her life becomes even more complicated. She is changed from a slave into a maid, as officially slavery was illegal in England at the time (ca. 1820). This is one of the main moments on which the story turns, where her plantation master gifts her to be employed by his friend, a practice that was still legal and is based on historical fact. It is in this position that she joins the Benham household and meets her employer and his wife (Madame Marguerite or Meg), as well as the other staff, who receive her with mixed feelings. It is also in this position that Frannie grows closer to Madame.

While I believe they both love the other at certain points in the narrative, I couldn’t say that they loved each other at the same time or even in the same way. Their relationship is so inherently shaped by inequalities: Frannie is black, of mixed race, a former slave, a maid, and on top of all that she is educated–which occasionally forces her into the position of sideshow. Madame is wealthy (through her husband), pretty, and of high society, though her being French seems to count as much as a mark against her as in her favour depending on the situation. Most complicated of all though, is the fact that the Benham wealth is generated through slavery, and this cannot ever be removed from the relationship between Frannie and Meg.

On top of all that, Meg has an opium habit that worsens over the course of the book, and she involves Frannie in covering it up so her husband won’t grow aware. There are so many secrets in this story, and the opium secret is an early indication of the bleakness that lives in the Benham marriage, creating another layer to the women’s relationship. It presents a theme often explored in historical fiction: while Madame seemingly has everything she could ever want (husband, wealth, beauty, youth), she either holds these things through her husband or her own age–which of course only ever advances in one direction. She is isolated and even needs drugs to numb the loneliness of her life. In one moment, Frannie suggests that white women are also the property of white men. Still, that doesn’t mean Meg and Frannie suffer the same pains, but the story does a good job of suggesting that the rules of society can protect as much as they can hurt and trap someone. Frannie and Meg just happen to be trapped in different ways.

In the end, these entrapments lead to the death of the Benhams and the imprisonment of Frannie, who is trying to figure out what happened that fateful night. The later chapters where she notes down the proceedings of her court case (all her writings are addressed directly to her lawyer, in the hopes that he can either figure out a defense or share her words, depending on the outcome of the case) come closest to feeling like a murder mystery. There are witnesses, evidence, a judge, and lawyers trying to make the best of it all. This is also where Frannie has a chance to figure out what she did (if anything), as her trauma seems to have blocked her memory. As she unravels the various threads being spun by the background characters in the court case, it becomes clearer to the reader how many more secrets lived in the Benham household, and you begin to question ever more what is and isn’t true. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts