Lizzie

January 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-In this fictionalized retelling of the horrific, still unsolved Borden murders, 16-year-old Lizzie is a talented cook in her family's bed and breakfast who suffers physical and psychological abuse and who has regular blackouts that coincide with menstrual flow and pain. The novel takes place in the months leading up to the legendary gruesome murders of Lizzie's father and stepmother and focuses on Lizzie's struggle with mental illness, her desire to escape the inn, and her romance with the maid, Bridget. The author uses sensational language and heavy foreshadowing with the cooking, abuse, romance, and menstrual themes. Most scenes include knives or meat or blood or skin and references to chopping. Lizzie's sickness intensifies and her reliability as a narrator becomes questionable. When the mutilated bodies are discovered, this fictional Lizzie, just as the actual Lizzie Borden claimed, has no memory of that day's events. Although the murders occurred in the late 1800s, this story attempts to be modern with references to selfies and security cameras and the use of modern slang-but since Lizzie is practically a shut-in in an old house except for trips to church, the setting feels historical and the insertion of contemporary terms is disorienting. An author's note presents what limited facts are known about the case, and where storytelling fills in the gaps. Readers wanting more should find Sarah Miller's Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century. VERDICT This interesting but flawed retelling of the Lizzie Borden murder mystery could appeal to fans of romantic horror or true crime stories.-Elaine Fultz, Madison Jr. Sr. High School, Middletown, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2018
The story of Lizzie Borden, creatively reimagined and set in the 21st century.Present-tense narrator Lizbeth Borden lives with her father and stepmother in the Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts. The white 17-year-old's life isn't easy: her emotionally and physically abusive parents have convinced the devoutly Catholic Lizzie that she's too fragile to survive without them. Lizzie's intense sense of Catholic guilt prevents her from pushing back, and her older sister's escape from their toxic home makes Lizzie's plight all the more painful. Lizzie is mentally and physically ill; she suffers from depression and anxiety and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a chronic condition aggravated by her period. The illness makes her do strange, inexplicable--and sometimes horrific--things she can't remember doing. Enter Bridget Sullivan, the B&B's new maid, a lovely white girl with an Irish accent. Lizzie is attracted to her from the moment she shows up on the Bordens' doorstep. Bridget is everything Lizzie isn't: well-traveled, sexually liberated, and free from shame and self-doubt. As the girls' romantic relationship deepens, Bridget's belief that Lizzie can be more than just her "father's silly little girl" gives Lizzie the strength to disobey her parents and the power to take control of her own life. In this page-turner, Ius adroitly combines fact and hypothesis to explore one of the most notorious and unsolved murder cases in U.S. history.Startling, visceral, and heartbreaking. (author's note) (Fiction. 15-adult)

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January 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Readers will recognize the name: in a small Massachusetts town, 17-year-old Lizzie Borden works as a chef at her family's bed-and-breakfast, beneath the punishing thumbs of her father and stepmother. Lizzie's longing for freedom grows stronger when bright, worldly Bridget Sullivan comes to work as a maid at the inn. The girls develop a friendship that swiftly becomes more, but Lizzie suffers from blackouts, and as her parents' abuse intensifies, she can't always control her actions. Ius applies the same conceit she used in Anne and Henry (2015)historical characters in a contemporary settingto the story of Lizzie Borden. It's an odd concept, especially as Ius mostly recreates what's known of those days before the infamous 1892 murders. Despite the modern-day setting, much of the language still feels historical, due in part to Lizzie's isolation and religious upbringing. Still, Lizzie's relationship with Bridget provides a strong emotional core. More than a century later, interest in the Borden murders has not waned, and this will attract plenty of readers because of it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)