Customer Reviews

The Borden Tragedy: A Memoir of the Infamous Double Murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892 (A Treasury of Victorian Murder)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Geary... my hat is off to you, sir!

"The Borden Tragedy" is near perfect in all it's pictoral details and facts. I can attest to this as I have actually stayed the night in the infamous guest room where dear ol' step-mommy's bludgeoned body was found, had a lengthy conversation with the Borden historian in Fall River, read the interrogation notes and the police blotter from the time of Lizzie's arrest, as well as having dug up as much information as I possibly could before my actual visit so I would be ready to ask a plethora of questions. I can tell you with absolute certainty: Geary has his act together here.

For those of you that might not be familar with the term "graphic novel", it basically means "a really fancy comic book with lots of words". Be that as it may, Geary managed to cram pack the pages with more information about the Borden case than you can shake a bloody axe handle at. (Granted, there is still quite a bit more to the case... but this is just a comic book designed for light reading!)

The illustrations are beautifully intricate and detailed. All the maps of town and of the rooms within the residence itself are accurate... down to the placement of furniture. Geary introduces briefly throughout the novel many of the alternate theories and possible other suspects to the grisly murders. He has done a wonderful job of recreating the entire series of events that took place that stifling summer of 1892.

Included at the rear of the book are several pages of press clippings of the time as well as Lizzie's Indictment. The back cover has an eerie comparison of the Borden case to that of the Simpson case a hundred years later.

There are about 3 discrepencies I have found within the pages of "The Borden Tragedy", but they are so minute that they really don't bear mentioning. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a love of comics, Borden affectionados/collectors, or simply anyone wanting a very brief yet still accurate introduction to one of the most famous unsolved crimes in all of american history.

Rick Geary makes that clear on the back cover of The Borden Tragedy, a straightforward investigation into the infamous double murder in Fall River, Mass., in 1892. While the contents of the book focus strictly on the case, its victims and suspects, the back cover draws various amusing (and convincing) comparisons between Borden in 1892 and Simpson in 1994, from the celebrity surrounding the crime to the "not guilty" verdict that closed the trial.

Between the covers, however, Geary provides a wonderfully direct account of the incident, drawing on anonymous memoirs from the time they were discovered in a trunk in 1990. While using that typed manuscript as his source, Geary verified his facts with numerous other sources, compiling a fascinating summation to accompany his illustrated narration.

The terse account is filled with details that suggest it was written by a close associate of the family. The narrative is written formally, evocative of the time, and Geary's black-and-white illustrations provide a fly-on-the-wall view of events as they unfolded. The book draws no conclusions about the murderer's identity; the killer is always off-panel or shown only in shadow. And, while a small amount of blood is unavoidable in a story of this sort, the book never descends into tasteless levels of gore.

This book is part of the Treasury of Victorian Murder series, a series of books in graphic novel form that tell the stories of famous nineteenth century murders. This book tells the story of the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, who were brutally hacked to death with an axe; a crime for which their daughter Lizzie was charged, leading to the famous children's rhyme, "Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one!"

This is a really good book, one that I saw my daughter reading. She is thirteen years old, and was interested in the double-murder, and got this book for herself. She found the book highly informative and certainly not too gruesome.

Reading it for myself, I was impressed with the way the author used the graphic novel format to bring the story to life, but without being too graphic or gruesome. He successfully walked a fine line, presenting the facts of the murders in an even-handed manner, including facts that seem to implicate Lizzie Borden and those that seem to exonerate her. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and highly informative book.

So, if you are interested in the Lizzie Borden case, and want an easy to read, and yet balanced and informative read, then this book is for you. My thirteen year old daughter and I both highly recommend this book to you.

The Borden Tragedy is a helpful reference for anybody who is studying Lizzie Borden and needs help visualizing how the murderous events on August 4, 1892 likely took place. The story is told in comic book format with black and white drawings, but don't laugh; you won't find material like this in the Sunday morning comics. Although I have never visited Fall River Massachusetts, Rick Geary's wonderful illustrations make me feel like I got an effective inexpensive vacation to the town. This book is a definite buy for any Bordenologist.

Geary's art and style lend a three dimensional quality to a hundred year old murder story. The evidence is suprisingly detailed, and leads the reader to reflect on any number of possible scenarios without being so brass as to try to present a solution. As good or better than Volume 2's examination of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Geary is one of the best and most under-appreciated illustrators of our time. His Victorian Murder series is both fascinating and beautifully illustrated. "The Borden Tragedy" is especially well done. Every drawing is something to be carefully examined and enjoyed. My only complaint - and it's a big one - is the fault of his publisher. If this is indeed a "Series" then it should look like one, and not haphazard accidents of design. Only the recent two volumes have a similar look, and even then, one has a bio of Geary and other doesn't! These icredible works should be reissued as a set, with consistent design treatments. This would be a wonderful opportunity to mimic period book design!. Afterall, the Victorians LOVED multi-volumed book sets! Nevertheless, well done ...

I had to order this book from a local bookstore to be able to obtain a copy.I lost that copy and obtained another one from amazon.At first I looked at it and said .."well its just a comic book"... Having heard about it by word of mouth I was not aware of this fact. Still I sat down to read it. Its very well put together,is a fairly accurate depiction of the crime,and I was truly glad I took the time to read it.It's very entertaining.Once I lost my copy I had to have another.I have also spent the night at the infamous Bed and Breakfast not once but twice...and I'm planning a third stay if I can find someone brave enough to go with me haha.I want to read every available copy of any book dealing with the crime, so if there are any other books someone might recommend I may not have already come across I would be very grateful.

Rather than read a single book that "solves" the Borden killings (there's a new solution every few years), you should get a copy of this. This book beautifully outlines the ambiguity of the Borden scenario, leaving the reader with both the sense that noone but Lizzie could have done it, AND that there's simply no way she could have done it. This book clearly and beautifully lays it all out for you. With his expert eye Geary's illustration-diagrams clarify things in a way that even a movie can't. The wierd layout of the Andrew Borden house has never been more clear than in his cut-away illustration.

Noone understands like Geary, the usefulness to a reader of foregrounding the factual information, which leaves you in a position to think more critically about the events. I find his books to be the most useful authority for getting my head around the facts and movements of the suspects, moreso than in the non-fiction books covering the same topic. Geary's best books bring the crime scenes and milieus vividly back to life. His calm, methodical sequencing of the surrounding events lends an operatic and important scale to some tawdry murders. They are perfect for reading just before bedtime.

This is an illustrated novel to provide a quick tour of this famous unsolved crime. The `Bibliography' fails to list David Kent's "Forty Whacks", the one best book on this case. Geary's book necessarily skims over the details; there are no page numbers. If Abby was called to the front door to receive a note would the door still be triple-locked as at night? The position of Andrew on that sofa shows how he was found; he must have been sitting upright (try it and see). The drawing of the barn omits the stairs to the second floor. Geary sums up the arguments for Lizzie's innocence, and covers the other solutions from other authors.

The wounds on Andrew's skull suggest a right-handed killer who faced him; or a left-handed killer who struck while Andrew was reclining. Abby's killer would have to be right-handed to hit her right side of her head from the back; or left-handed if she faced the killer. This is one of the puzzles of this crime. The question about Andrew "apparently fallen over from a sitting position" can be explained by Andrew putting on his shoes to greet a secret visitor. Lizzie was guilty of withholding the identity of this visitor. But her actions were approved by the members of the Fall River ruling class. The back cover compares Lizzie Borden to O.J. Simpson on a number of similarities. The last item about "any other individual" points to an unknown subject given the lack of evidence against either (no bloody clothes or shoes, no murder weapon). Somebody else did it. It would be more accurate to compare Dr. Sam Sheppard to Lizzie. Both were at the crime scene, neither had blood spatter on their clothes or the murder weapon. Both were correctly found not guilty, but suffered from prejudice for the rest of their lives.

You can read about other True Crime cases. If no one in the household did the murder, it was an intruder (or unknown subject). The Borden murders was solved in Arnold Brown's book: it was a nephew of Andrew. Lizzie kept this secret to avoid a scandal. Members of the Fall River ruling class knew, and also kept this secret (except to acknowledge it was a secret). Arnold Brown spent two years researching his book. That was more time than the professional writers used. Brown admits he has no documentary proof for his conclusion, the nephew's birth certificate is kept secret by Massachusetts' laws. There can be no documentary proof of the Mellen House Gang conspiracy because a secret is never committed to paper (else it is not a secret). Brown believes the conflict was over Andrew's will. But a will does not require an heir's presence. Andrew did business from his home, he often made loans to people and foreclosed on their property when they couldn't pay. I believe the secret visitor was there to explain why he could not repay a loan that was due. There are many stories of murder for money in True Crime. Remember the loan from Dr. Parkman to Dr. Webster?

This is a short but entertaining comic book rendition of the Borden saga. The story is told in really well-done black-and-white drawings which will be especially appreciated by those who like their story told in pictures.

David Rehak
author of "Did Lizzie Borden Axe For It?"