Lizzie Borden Took an Axe....

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

Everybody knows the rhyme about Lizzie Borden. Scratch that. Everybody my age and older knows the rhyme about Lizzie Borden. I've always been fascinated by the story, and my personal thoughts on the matter are that Lizzie is the one responsible for the murders of her father and stepmother. It wasn't the maid. It wasn't some random stranger. It was Lizzie. I don't care that she was acquitted; I firmly believe she did it.

So, when a coworker mentioned that a book came out about the Borden murders, I knew I would have to have it. It took me weeks to find (because I haven't been to a proper bookstore in months), but find it I did and devoured it in two days.

This is told from four perspectives: Lizzie, her older sister, Emma, Bridget the maid, and Benjamin, some drifter their uncle finds in a nearby town.

In Lizzie's chapters, it's often hard to remember that it is being told by a woman in her thirties. More often than not, I felt like I was reading the thoughts of a teenager, at best. It makes me wonder, mostly because every program I have seen about the real Lizzie Borden never mentioned it, if Lizzie was mentally impaired in some way. Of course, this could just be the author's interpretation of Lizzie. It was made very clear that she always acted like a spoiled child, and expected everyone to give into her whims.

The Emma chapters seem to cement the notion that Lizzie was mentally impaired and that everyone had to concede to Lizzie. I often felt sorry for Emma. She had to give up the man she loved because of Lizzie. She had to give up things that should have been hers for being the eldest. Worse, for most of her life, Emma just went with it because of a promise she made to her mother on her deathbed. I congratulate Emma for trying to live her own life, however short lived it was.

Bridget the maid's chapters gave some insight into Mrs. Borden. In many ways, she thought of the maid more of as her child than her own stepdaughters. Or, at least that's how it read at first. Toward the end, I had other thoughts about the Mrs. Borden/Bridget relationship, but only from Mrs. Borden's point of view. I think Bridget knew the truth of what happened that day, and just wanted out of that house, which is why she wasn't exactly helpful during the trial.

Finally, the Benjamin chapters.... I think they were included to appease all of those people who believe some random stranger came in and killed the Bordens. The way it is presented in this book is, admittedly, plausible, but it would have had to have been like it was in the book: where he was hired by someone in the family. Frankly, I could have done without his chapters. I didn't need his backstory, as it had little to do with the story as a whole. Just my two cents though.

I really enjoyed the book, and I can see myself going back to read it again in the future.