The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller

I have always had an interest in this famous double murder in our neighboring state of Rhode Island.  I've even visited the historic sites in Fall River.  I heard about this new book, geared for young adults, and added it to our wish list.  Thanks to the Denise Madera Olenick memorial fund, we were able to purchase it.  It went on display with horror for Halloween week, and then I snagged it.

Many people know some variation of the jump rope rhyme--
Lizzie Borden took an axe
Gave her mother forty whacks
And then when she was done (or when she saw what she had done)
She gave her father forty one

Andrew and Abby Borden, Lizzie and her sister Emma's father and stepmother, were brutally murdered with an axe or hatchet in August of 1892.  The accused murderer was none other than Lizzie herself.

Often, Lizzie is portrayed as a teenage girl.  In reality, she was over thirty and her sister Emma much older.  The two sisters shared a home with their father and his much younger second wife, along with their housekeeper Bridget (for some reason called "Maggie").  There was strife in the family.  Lizzie and Emma often refused to eat with their stepmother, either eating at different times or in a different part of the house.  They were angry at their father for using part of their inheritance to buy a home for Abby's family members.  These facts were used against Lizzie in her trial.  Lizzie also faced rumors and gossip used as evidence.

In the end though, Lizzie was found not guilty in court.  She continued to be tormented though, in the press and in public, for the remainder of her life.  She even changed her name, to Lizbeth, in an effort to hide from her past.  Her dying request was to be buried at her father's feet, and she left $30,000 to the Fall River Animal Shelter.

I like the way the book is written, much like one of my favorite books, The Murder of Helen Jewett.  It is told in narrative, with facts from court records, newspaper stories, interviews, and letters.

The Borden murders have never been solved, if one believes Lizzie is in fact innocent.    

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.