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A review by majesdane
Lizzie Borden by Elizabeth Engstrom
3.0
The thing about this novel is that it really would have worked ... if it was about some other family. Out of everyone, Lizzie is the only one who resembles what we know of of the Borden family. For example: Emma here is ruthlessly cruel to Lizzie and a wildly out of control alcoholic; she's nothing like the uptight, old-fashioned Emma that we know of from history. Andrew and Abby aren't even themselves; Andrew is a adulterer who is oddly detached from the rest of his family while Abby is infinitely more sociable. Bridget Sullivan and Alice Russell barely make appearances in this story, despite being major players in the Borden case.
This book isn't terrible by any stretch, but it suffers from a few major flaws: the incredibly out of "character"-ness of the Borden family; the lack of any sort of real build-up and/or detail regarding major plot points (e.g, Andrew's affair, Lizzie's lesbianism, Emma's alcoholism and her trips to New Bedford); and the insufferable tacked-on supernatural aspect which does little more than just provide an explanation as to how Lizzie could have committed the murders. And really, this book, at 352 pages, just feels too short and rushed.
But really, if you took out the supernatural aspects, that alone would make the book better. I get why it was there, sort of, and it served its purpose in explaining how Lizzie committed the murders, but it just never really did anything for me. 99.9% of that part of the book was just there to fill up space.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading this. But I was disappointed because it could have been so much better.
This book isn't terrible by any stretch, but it suffers from a few major flaws: the incredibly out of "character"-ness of the Borden family; the lack of any sort of real build-up and/or detail regarding major plot points (e.g, Andrew's affair, Lizzie's lesbianism, Emma's alcoholism and her trips to New Bedford); and the insufferable tacked-on supernatural aspect which does little more than just provide an explanation as to how Lizzie could have committed the murders. And really, this book, at 352 pages, just feels too short and rushed.
But really, if you took out the supernatural aspects, that alone would make the book better. I get why it was there, sort of, and it served its purpose in explaining how Lizzie committed the murders, but it just never really did anything for me. 99.9% of that part of the book was just there to fill up space.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading this. But I was disappointed because it could have been so much better.