The Secrets of Lizzie Borden

Not sure under which rock I'd been living but somehow, despite loving history, I'd never heard about Lizzie Borden before reading this book.

It was a good thing because it made me completely unbiased. I read it not even aware of what crime she had--supposedly--committed. It made my immersion inside her mind all the better and more intense. A terrifying and mesmerizing journey, that one was.

Brandy Purdy delivers such a great, convincing tale that now (obsessed with all things about Lizzie Borden I can find on the internet) no other version of what happened can make me truly convinced as this novel did. She wrote so perfectly from the possibly murderess point of view that I feel like I had her story told by no other than Lizzie herself. No only beautifully written, painstakingly (in the best possible way) detailed, this novel is a profound character study. Not only of Lizzie but of all women of that time and how their enclosed, controlled, hyper-dominated lives could rarely lead to anything else than conformism, depression or rage. And the author was so compromised to deliver a believable recount of the facts through Lizzie Borden's voice that the whole novel is written with the language of the time. It was a delight to learn new (old) words and habits from people living in the late 1800/ early 1900. (If nothing else, just to now be able to use "nincompoop" to insult someone is worth the read!)

It is sad to imagine that if she had been born a century later, even less, Lizzi Borden could have had a normal life. Her "sins" (not the murders, of course) were nothing but a reflect of how society was hypocrite and full of norms women had to follow no matter at what cost. She was just a woman inhabited by passion that found a horrible way to be set finally free to do as she saw fit.

As you see, Ms Purdy wrote such a wonderful book that she made me root for a woman who possibly killed two people with a hatchet. No easy feature, that is. But I did. I read shaking my head, wondering why didn't she leave her town, went to Europe, to live her life as she'd always wanted, instead of staying there and suffering everyone's constant judgment. Well, there's an explanation for that in the novel too. I just couldn't help but wish Lizzie Borden had done things differently. I suffered for and with her. There's no way to read this amazing book and stay indifferent.

I absolutely recommend The Secrets of Lizzie Borden; it is one of the best books I've read this year and this story will certainly stay with me for a long, long time, maybe forever.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for review purposes, which did not affect my opinion in any way. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the lovely opportunity.

One of the biggest mysteries in American history revolves around Lizzie Borden. Did she kill her father and stepmother? The courts said no and Lizzie was acquitted, but there are plenty of people who think the justice system got it wrong. In this book, written from Lizzie’s prospective, readers learn that Lizzie’s father Andrew Borden may have been wealthy, but he never spent any of his wealth on his daughters. Growing up in poverty himself, Borden saw no reason his children should have fancy things or nice clothes. Nor were they to entertain visitors or encourage friendships. As time goes by, Lizzie’s rage begins to build until that hot summer day…….I really enjoyed this version of the story, told from Lizzie’s perspective. It answers a lot of questions about Lizzie’s potential motives