August is the time of year for new Lizzie Borden books. The non-fiction ones of late have been severely lacking in factual content, but the fictional works have been creative and highly entertaining.
Case in point.
A new book has recently been published on Lizzie Borden called By the Naked Pear Tree: The Trial of Lizzie Borden in Verse, by Michael Thomas Brimbau.
It is a charming and highly accessible work, done in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. Fresh and entertaining, this is a play about the trial of Lizzie Borden, but not like you have ever seen it before! It is humorous, thoughtful, and packs a punch.
- Paperback: 170 pages
- Publisher: PearTree Press (June 16, 2015)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0990816125
By the Naked Pear Tree can be purchased at these outlets:
https://www.createspace.com/5562219
There is a book signing on August 2, 2015, at the Fall River Historical Society.
A synopsis of the book:
By the Naked Pear Tree, a play in verse, was written in the spirit of Steve Allen’s unconventional television program, Meeting of the Minds.
Our satirical performance begins outside a New Bedford, Massachusetts, court house. The year is 1893 and the trial of Lizzie Borden is about to begin. Dispatching his oration, the tragedian, Euripides, stands in the street preaching the merits of womanhood and relating the concerns he has for the outcome of the trial, and how it may corrupt the honor of the fabled heroines he has written about.
Not long after we are introduced to Clarence Darrow—progressive attorney and respected member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Hired by Euripides to allusively defend Lizzie Borden, Darrow invites his colleague and adversary, William Jennings Bryan, to a challenge, giving the dubious Bryan a chance to play prosecutor—to change the course of history, and help convict Lizzie Borden of the murder of her parents.
In doing so, the two men agree to a friendly game of poker. Winner of the ensuing card game gets to decide the fate of the accused. But the outcome is not what one would expect, and those who tamper with history are left to reap the consequences.
