Sara Collins: The confessions of Frannie Langton, 9780241349199 Viking (Penguin Random House UK),  pub date: 4. April 2019, hardback

(German language rights were sold, but I could not find a publication date yet)

I am pretty sure “The confessions of Frannie Langton” will become a book club favorite and a word by mouth recommendation once published. Sara Collins worked as a lawyer before turning her true passion, writing, into a career. Her lawyerly skills definitely flow into “The confession of Frannie Langton” which reminded me at times of “Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan . Here too a slave’s life is shaped by their master’s decision to be allowed an education and involved in scientific experiments. Although "The Confession of Frannie Langton"  is written in a very different style, historical fiction mixed with a gripping murder mystery, the plight of people of color in the 19^th century, male or female, is acutely portrayed. Written as a confession at the end of her trial at the Old Bailey after being accused of having murdered her Mistress and Master, Frannie peels away layer by layer of her life story until she arrives at the truth.

This is a powerful tale of Jamaican slave Frannie Langton who arrives in London with her owner Langton after he has been expelled by his wife,  the owner of the sugar cane plantation “Paradise”. It is here where Frannie was brought up, allowed to read and write and help Langton with cruel and crazy experiments. She believes to be his confidant but he trades her in at the Belham estate where she learns that her whole life to this point has been an experiment these two men had dreamed up. Her life receives another twist when Madame, Marguerite Belham, an eccentric with a graving for laudanum and feminist ideas, falls for Frannie’s exotic looks and her free spirit seducing her into a lesbian relationship, the only love Frannie will ever experience.    

I personally found the middle section of the novel too long and less captivating but the first third and the last third are brilliantly written, totally engrossing with a heartbreaking ending making it a fascinating read.  

Rajeev Balasubramanyam:  Professor Chandra follows his bliss, 9781784742539, Chatto & Windus, (Penguin Random House) hardback, Publication date: January 2019

“Professor Chandra follows his bliss” is one of these absolutely  charming and uplifting books. Feeling a little down and out ? This book will pick you up, make you chuckle and put a smile on your face. Peppered with humor and wisdom in equal proportions, the book addresses in a lighthearted way such serious subjects as a failed family life, a broken marriage, estranged children and what life change could lead to happiness.

Professor Chandra’s life goal has been to win the Nobel Peace prize believing this would put a golden glow over his unsuccessful private life.  He is a self-righteous bastard who managed to wrack his marriage and drive away his three children. When he suffers a bicycle accident and a silent heart attack after learning the Nobel Peace prize in economics has surpassed him yet again, his doctor orders him to take time out and follow his bliss. This of course is all mumbo jumbo to a person who is deeply matter of fact and suspicious of emotions and anything that cannot be explained logically.  An offer for a guest professorship in California, where his divorced wife resides with his youngest daughter and her second husband, helps him to change his mind and soon Chandra finds himself a guest at his estranged wife’s house with her New Age savvy husband Steve. It is soon decided that what Chandra needs is to sign up for a course at the famous Esalen Institute to stretch his mind and emotional limits.  Although nearly 70, the journey of finding his own bliss begins which often feels more like a direct route to getting heart blisters.

I really loved going back to this intelligent, well written, funny novel which never failed to put me in an upbeat mood. The ending could have been less predictable but it did not spoil the quality of the book.

Nicolas Obregon: Sins as Scarlet, 9781405926935, paperback, Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House UK)

(German edition: Goldmann published the first Iwata novel: Schatten der schwarzen Sonne (Blue light Yokohama), new publication no German pub date yet  

If you are searching for a modern follow up to Raymond Chandler’s noir crime novels, I would say Nicolas Obregon comes very close. In my opinion not since Chandler did anyone create a modern character as close in mood to Marlowe as Obregon did with his homicide Inspector Kasuke Iwata, an American of Japanese heritage living in California with a dark past.  

I missed the first Kasuke Iwata novel "Blue Light Yokohama" which is set in Japan but this didn’t matter. During the course of “Sins as Scarlet” his previous life, his traumatic experiences in Japan and the reason why he is now working as a private investigator come to light and one begins to understand his utter disregard for his own safety and his dark, sombre mood. 

When his mother in law demands his help in investigating the disappearance of his dead wife’s sister Meredith Nichol, Iwata knows he cannot refuse and needs to honor her request even if it means facing the demons of the past. Meredith, a transgender woman, is found strangled on skid row between old train tracks. Iwata’s search leads him into a brutal underworld of gangs in LA and Mexico, seedy transgender bars, the exploitation of Mexican immigrants and transgender people, corruption and some particularly vile criminal activities. I will not reveal more as it would give away the plot. It  gets pretty hairy and graphic at times.

Obregon has created a very complex, likeable character with Kasuke Iwata, a broken man trying to redeem his mistakes. I don’t think I give away too much when disclosing the novel finishes with an uplifting ending.