Rob Franklin’s debut novel examines the cost of belonging
In a France 24 interview, Franklin discusses how race, class and respectability shape the relationships and inner life of his novel’s central character.
Rob Franklin joined Eve Irvine to discuss Great Black Hope, his debut novel about race, class, respectability and belonging. The story centres on David Smith, a young Black man from a Southern bourgeois family.
David’s education, manners and connections give him access, while the possibility of being cast out remains a constant concern. That tension places respectability politics at the heart of the novel.
Franklin told France 24 that he drew on worlds he had observed since childhood, including the ways race and class shape intimate relationships.
The novel considers the psychological toll of continually performing an acceptable version of oneself. Its focus is the strain of seeking acceptance while remaining alert to the risk of exclusion.
