Lizzie Borden Books, Forthcoming and Now
Just in time for August 4th, a new non-fiction book on Lizzie Borden and the people that surround this most enigmatic of unsolved murder cases is being released this weekend.
Lizzie Borden Resurrections: A history of the people surrounding the Borden case before, during, and after the trial is authored by Liz Whiz Sherry Chapman, and published by PearTree Press.
There will be a booksigning at the Fall River Historical Society on Sunday, August 3, from noon to 3 pm.
The book is $21.95 and you can preorder a copy to be sent to you in the mail by contacting the FRHS at 508.679.1071.
Whatever happened to Lizzie Borden after the trial that accused her of bludgeoning her father and stepmother with a hatchet in 1892 Fall River, Massachusetts? It’s all in here, and it doesn’t stop with Lizzie. A plethora of persons were involved around her in some way. From her friends to her foes, from the doctors to the policemen; from her Manse to The Nance, at last comes the first book of its kind that tells what caused Officer Philip Harrington (who greatly disliked Lizzie) to die suddenly in 1893. What happened to neighbor and friend Dr. Bowen after the crime and trial? Why doesn’t Edwin Porter, who covered the trial then wrote the first contemporary book on the murders, The Fall River Tragedy, have a gravestone – and who is buried with him? Not by him. Actually with him.
From original source documents, photos of the graves, obituaries, and death certificates, each on whom records could be found has their story told in details unknown until now. What were they doing before anyone much had heard of Lizzie Borden? What was their role in the case? When did they die and how?
Some of the results may surprise you, whether you read this book for pleasure or research. There are no legends here, but a factual telling of the stories of these persons who are today all gone but need not be forgotten. And with this book they may be hard to forget.
We read on Amazon.com that a new fiction book about Lizzie is due to be out in September, titled Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches, by Cherie Priest.
From the Amazon site: “Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one….
The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny.
But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their verysouls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness.
This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.”
Published last year but still worth touting, is Michael Brimbau’s novel titled Lizzie Borden: The Girl with the Pansy Pin, published by PearTree Press.
Available in paperback or on Kindle, this work tells the story of Lizzie Borden and the murders with a unique perspective.
From the book’s description: “Lizzie Borden and her sister Emma lived a life of privilege and entitlement, with wealth and social status far beyond their neighbors. But most pleasures were just window dressing, dangling beyond their reach. Riches were kept quarantined by a frugal patriarch, unable or unwilling to change his scrimping ways. As they became older, Lizzie and her sister grew restless, aching for a more opulent life—to reside on the Hill, in a big house, amongst their peers, and Fall River’s finest families. Now their father was planning to give all his wealth away—to his wife, no doubt. And, why not? Abby Durfee Borden had been a devoted mother to his two ungrateful daughters. Andrew Jackson Borden had no intention of moving to the Hill or abandoning the home he had purchased for his wife. Discord and turmoil soon began to ferment and fester. Lizzie expressed concern that “Father has enemies and I fear that they will burn the house down around us.†On a sultry August morning, in the naked light of day, someone entered 92 Second Street and brutally hacked and murdered Andrew and Abby Borden. Soon the finger of guilt pointed to Lizzie. But she loved her father. He meant everything to her. The gold ring she had lovingly given him and that he always wore said as much. She would never have harmed him. Or would she? The Girl with the Pansy Pin tells the gripping story of a desirable and vivacious young Victorian woman desperately longing for adventure and a lavish life. Instead, she wasted away in a stale, modest existence, in a father’s foregone reality, one with little chance of ever discovering love, happiness, or fulfillment. Now they have charged poor Lizzie with double murder.”
$19.80 in paperback, $6.99 on Kindle.
A one-act play for the college level audience has been published by StudentPlays.org. Titled Forty Whacks, by John Glass, the play is a 25-35 minute drama for three actors. $8.00 in paperback.
From the description on Amazon.com: “A pair of siblings have recently inherited the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts. The business was run for decades in a quiet, respectable fashion but now, with new owners, it is going through a transition. One of the siblings is over-ambitious, and her desire to unearth an alleged piece of buried evidence within the house brings about a chilly uneasiness, which gradually leads to a climax between brother and sister, and perhaps even within the house itself.”
Another work of fiction appeared in print through CreateSpace publishers in March of this year. Titled Lizzie, by SE, this one looks to be in the horror genre, using the Lizzie Borden story as a springboard for a modern tale of murder.
From Amazon.com: “The brutal 1892 hatchet murders of the infamous Lizzie Borden acquittal come alive when present-day Lizzie Allen moves back into her childhood home. Suffering from amnesia, she struggles to uncover the mysteries of her youth — and the distant past.”
A Kindle-only publication by Trey Wyatt is available for download a a low price on Amazon.com.
From the description on Amazon:Â The life of Lizzie Borden has captivated people’s interest around the world for the past one hundred years. She was accused and stood trial for one of the most gruesome murders in history. The mystery surrounding these events has become legendary. What really happened the day Lizzie Borden supposedly “took an axe” and killed her father and stepmother?Â
Find Out The Facts To These Questions
- What Was Lizzie Borden Really Like?
- Was There Animosity Between Lizzie And Her Parents?
- What Really Happened The Day Of The Murders?
- What Was Life Like For Lizzie After The Trial?
- What Life Was Like For Lizzie After The Trial?
- Why Has This Story Fascinated People For So Long?
- Much, much more!”
In a chapter titled “Bloody Murder,” Katherine Ramsland has penned a telling of the Lizzie Borden story in her newest book Beating the Devil’s Game: A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation.
From Amazon.com: “Today, the basic precepts of criminal investigation—fingerprints, DNA, blood evidence—are known among professionals and lay people alike. But behind each of these familiar concepts is a fascinating story of the evolution of science and law, spearheaded by innovative thinkers, many of whom risked their careers for more perfect justice.
Dr. Katherine Ramsland, renowned expert in criminology, traces that development from thirteenth-century Chinese studies of decomposition through the Renaissance and the era of Newtonian physics to the marvels of the present day and beyond. Along the way, she introduces us to forensic pioneers and visionaries who galvanized the field, raised investigative standards, and whose efforts have kept us just steps ahead of increasingly sophisticated criminals.”
$8.99 in paperback.
A novel entitled Sisterly Love: The Saga of Emma and Lizzie Borden, by Jordan Bollinger, was published in January.
From Amazon.com: “Just after eleven, on the morning of August 4th, 1892, the peace in a modest residential neighborhood was shattered, by cries of murder. Businessman, Andrew Borden was found by his daughter, Lizzie, bludgeoned to death. Later, his second wife, Abby, was discovered, also hacked to death.
Bridget Sullivan, the house maid had been outside, washing windows, that morning. Oldest daughter, Emma, was away, and Uncle John Morse — who’d spent the night before with the Borden’s — had a string of unshakeable alibis. That left only Lizzie.
She was arrested, imprisoned for ten months, tried and acquitted of the murders.
Lizzie thought she’d been found innocent, but Fall River deemed her guilty and treated her as a pariah for the rest of her life.
The two sisters lived together for over a decade. Then, something happened that sent Emma storming from the house. Something so awful the sisters never spoke again.”
