"Well. I am guilty of this. I was a woman who loved a woman, chief among the womanly sins, like barrenness, and thinking. After all, my thoughts were all of her, and coarse and lewd, disturbing as dog-barks. Oh, the shock of it. The wrongness. The dark, surprisingly glee."

Collins has written something that is not easy to put to the back of your mind. I could not stop thinking about the book while I was reading it. Frannie and her story is a thing that keeps the reader thinking. Collins is a master storyteller. She unfolds the story, putting all the pieces together in the end in a great chain link. This is not the usual enslaved narratives I have read and I enjoy that. From being the hands of a mad scientist to a romantic relationship with her English mistress, it was a rollercoaster ride. The gothic feel reminded me of Jane Eyre with a mix of Sherlock Holmes.

Frannie is not a likeable character. None of the characters are 'likeable' characters. They are real people. Complex people. This is not the purpose of the story. The story is powerfully brutal to the life that many people had to live during enslavement. The confessions of Frannie give readers an insight into the psychological ongoings of different incidents people could have had to experience. The frustration I felt while reading this story built until the very bitter end. I wanted to throw the book across the room. There is any number of situations in this book that can be triggering, so proceed with caution.

This novel has me thinking about criminal cases versus civil cases with enslaved people or free people of colour. My studies covered civil cases this past semester which was very interesting. I have a few posts pertaining some of the books related to those topics but I think I'm going to make another one.