Lizzie Borden took an axe. Or did she? Chaney looks behind the myth at one of the most grisly and controversial murders in New England history.
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Robert J. Allison is chairman of the history department of Suffolk University in Boston and teaches courses in American Constitutional history and the history of Boston at Harvard Extension School. He lives in South Boston and summers in Provincetown on Cape Cod.
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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Careless or clueless?,
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This review is from: Lizzie Borden (New England Remembers) (NE Remembers) (Paperback)
The first error is on the copyright page, which states that the cover photo, the Newport, R.I. vacation shot of Lizzie taken in 1893, was taken prior to the murders - which took place in 1892! The author later identifies a three-quarter portrait of Lizzie as a "profile" view. Again and again, Ms. Chaney does not take the time that Rick Geary, for one, does (in his graphic novel of the case) to state that many of the events of the murder morning are in dispute. Rather, she forges ahead, proclaiming without any doubt that Lizzie "walked downstairs dressed in a blue Bengalese (sic - the word is "Bengaline") silk skirt and blouse" and that "Abby told Lizzie that she had gotten a note from a sick friend that morning and was going out to visit her." This last is, of course, one of the most questioned and speculated-upon issues of the case.
This book is, unfortunately, as inventive as Victoria Lincoln's well-written but ultimately semi-fictional epic, A PRIVATE DISGRACE. One photo caption reads, "Lizzie as a young woman. She loved the theater, but rejected it for a higher calling to the church, primarily because she wanted to feel useful and accepted." And your references, Ms. Chaney? In thirty-five years of researching the case I have never read anywhere that the young Miss Borden was smitten with the theater. It's a romantic notion, and it bookends nicely with the actual older Lizzie's embrace of the stage, but it seem entirely to be an invention on the author's part. And where, pray tell, are Lizzie's motives so definitely set down for all to see? Perhaps the book ought to be titled LIZZIE BORDEN, AS I IMAGINE HER.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Huge Yawn For This One,
This review is from: Lizzie Borden (New England Remembers) (NE Remembers) (Paperback)
Don't breakout your credit cards for this book...Karen Chaney's book New England Remembers should be titled New England Should Forget This Book - besides the fact that the book is filled with historical inaccuracies (which raises the question is Karen Chaney a real crime historian?) it reads like a menu at a bad Chinese restaurant - "same old, same old."
New England Remembers is not insightful and not very thought provoking which translates to - better spend your money elsewhere.
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On balance as"historical"as any other book on this subject,
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This review is from: Lizzie Borden (New England Remembers) (NE Remembers) (Paperback)
Lizzie Borden was aquitted of the murders of her father and step-mother,and,to date,no other person or persons have been tried for the crime..So,in effect,and for the record,Lizzie Borden is innocent of the crimes,despite the circumstantial evidence which would seem to indicate otherwise..Like O.J.Simpson,whose"guilt" in the matter of his ex-wife and her boyfriend's muders is more a matter of public "knowledge"than of legal culpability(O.J. of course,was also found innocent by a jury,although he fared less well in a later civil trial which found him otherwise),Lizzie Borden is PRESUMED by many to be guilty,despite the result of her trial..Thus it becomes almost an open-season for those who wish to affix blame..The"facts" in this case are few,and most of the books written about Lizzie depend upon speculative spins on the material avail;able...Inasmuchas Lizzie and her maid were the only other persons thought to be in the house at the time of the murders suspicion has fallen on them both,but more so on Lizzie..The maid is considered not to have had a compelling motive to have done the deed,while Lizzie is said to have had resentment towards her step-mother and,to some degree,towards her father as well..If one were to make a guess as to who might have had both motive and opportunity,as well as means,then Lizzie is at the top of avery short list,with every other known suspect running a distant second..
While Ms.Chaney does her fair share of speculating(as well as making some few mistakes with what few real facts we have,such as dating a photograph or indulging her imagination as to certain conversations which may or may not have gone done exactly as described in her book),her musings on this matter,and the conclusions drawn by her from them,are as valid as any others,given that,SAVE FOR THE PRESUMPTION THAT SHE IS GUILTY AND THE RESULT OF HER TRIAL,WHICH PROCLAIMS THAT SHE IS NOT,we really do not know,for sure,what took place that day...Therefore,given this dearth of actual knowledge,Ms.Chaney's conclusions are as good as anyone else's,and in some cases are better than most..Her writing style is not studious or boring,which makes her book-length take on the Borden crime all the more easy to get through,and if,in the end,the reader does not agree with Ms.Chaney's conclusions-so what?It has been ,as of this writing,a full 115 years since the crimes went down,and unless there should be some unimpeachable firsthand account hidden away somewhere that does once and for all detail the crime,say,for example,a secret confession hand-written by Lizzie herself,or another account,by an as yet unknown author who may him/herself have done the crime and whose account might therefore prove it beyond question,we are left with only a few facts and an endless parade of books that speculate...Ms.Chaney's account is quite good considering that,in the end,she presents nothing that can really put the case to rest.
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