The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century

4.5 | 703 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 09-12-2024

About this item

With murder, court battles, and sensational newspaper headlines, the story of Lizzie Borden is compulsively listenable and perfect for the Common Core.

Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

In a compelling, linear narrative, Miller takes listeners along as she investigates a brutal crime: the August 4, 1892, murders of wealthy and prominent Andrew and Abby Borden. The accused? Mild-mannered and highly respected Lizzie Borden, daughter of Andrew and stepdaughter of Abby. Most of what is known about Lizzie’s arrest and subsequent trial (and acquittal) comes from sensationalized newspaper reports; as Miller sorts fact from fiction, and as a legal battle gets under way, a gripping portrait of a woman and a town emerges.

Listeners will devour this nonfiction book that comes across like fiction.

A School Library Journal Best Best Book of the Year

"Sure to be a hit with true crime fans everywhere."—School Library Journal, Starred

Daisy

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Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024

I purchase this book with my own money, and this is my real and honest opinion. I finished this book in one sitting I love reading anything that has to do with true crime. I love how detailed it was and the fact that it has photos I really loved the book, and I’ve already recommended it to my online friends

Cantilever

Really great read, no matter what the age.

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016

I read The Borden Murders in one gulp. Then I went back and re-read it. It's that interesting a topic, and Sarah Miller handles it in a way that makes for a compulsive page-turner. I knew that it was targeted at a younger audience than I fit into (ahem), but I have to tell you --- if this is what middle-school readers are capable of understanding, then more power to them. The writing is lucid and she makes the actual timetable of the murders understandable in terms of where everyone was, or at least claimed to be (no mean feat). The book is also scrupulously fair in regard to the identity of the murderer. Miller frankly admits that in the end, she is still in the dark. But for many readers, she will have accomplished an enormous achievement in regard Lizzie Borden's reputation. Miller argues the case for an unknown murderer so well that even those disposed to believe that Lizzie did do it must concede that much of the evidence has been organized so poorly that we have not heard the case against Borden as the killer.

Did she persuade me that Lizzie was innocent? No, but the book made me want to argue about it!

The photos are well chosen, and not gruesome. Miller skims lightly over the most obvious explanation of Lizzie's infatuation with Nance O'Neill and Emma's departure from their shared home. Mustn't scandalize the younglings.

This is a terrific read at any age. I only wish that books about topics this well-handled had been available when I was in middle school, but of course the printing press had only just been invented.

Russell J. Sanders

Well researched book that gives us a new picture of Lizzie Borden

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2016

I was first introduced, over fifty years ago, to the infamous Lizzie Borden through a high school production of a play called The Legend of Lizzie. Then in 1967, I purchased Victoria Lincoln’s book A Private Disgrace. I thought it was the ultimate resource book for Lizzie’s murders. (The author of the book I’m reviewing here says that Lincoln, who was a neighbor of Lizzie Borden, wrote a book that was quite flawed.) Then I went on to Agnes DeMille’s A Dance of Death, an account of DeMille’s research into the Borden murders in preparation for her ballet Fall River Legend. Since all that, I’ve also seen a couple of movies about the murders, so I feel like I’m steeped in the tale of Lizzie Borden. And now, along comes Sarah Miller’s The Borden Murders: Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century. I eagerly awaited the book, and although I can’t say that I overwhelmingly enjoyed it, I did find it an interesting addition to the lore I already knew. Miller has written a well-researched book, and she has humanized Lizzie in a way that I never saw before. The author sought out anecdotes and details that would show that Lizzie was a frightened young woman on trial. The outcome is not different from any other account, for this is history after all, but we do finish the book feeling differently about Lizzie and understanding the outcome of the trial a bit better. Miller’s book is supposedly written for young adults, but its subject matter and her approach are very adult. Teens will be engrossed in the book, but do not be fooled—this book is a welcome addition to Lizzie Borden lore, and adults will find it captivating. My one complaint is a minor one. Miller peppers the text with sidebars. I found the facts and tidbits in these sidebars to be fascinating, but I also found them a bit distracting, for I didn’t want to leave the flow of the story to find out such things as the difference between an inquest and a trial or how one kind of fabric differs from another. And yet, the sidebars enriched the story because this was all information that we likely, as modern readers, would not know. So I heartily recommend The Borden Murders for all ages.

Lizzie Borden Audio

The Best Book For A Beginner Regardless of Age!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023

When I first read this book back in 2016 I had no idea it was written for the YA crowd. It is a great read. It is factual without being heavy and it is quite funny at times. I always recommend this book to newbies that want to learn more and don't know where to start. I went on to produce Lizzie's trial testimony into a podcast using actors to play the parts starting with the Witness Statements, The Inquests and Preliminary and Superior Court Trial. Still in progress and I include excerpts from "The Knowlton Papers."

Barbara LeClair

Lizzie

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2023

Fabulous book with true facts of the trail and behind the scenes of this sensational trial of Lizzie Borden.

Georgie

Meh

Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017

After reading soooooo many Lizzie Borden "accounts", this one finally did me in, no pun intended. I've grown tired of authors proclaiming knowledge about the case and Sarah Miller is no different. What I dislike in all account, including hers, is the statement of "there's no evidence" to suggest such situations as necessary to the case. The problem with this is there is NO evidence to say that said evidence did NOT exist.

It's a book about contest of wills. Who will believe whom and she knows this as is evident in her writing. It's about whether there's the concept of "fake news" as we call it now and how to dig out the truth. She relied on the news and not clear evidence, as can be seen in her writing. She's not sensational about it but rather dull witted. She didn't really research this case and it comes through in frame after frame.

Nevertheless, I did like her perspective but she is like all of us...............bewildered.

David Macmillan

This book is accurate, non-biased. It's a good starting point for anyone interested in this case.

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2021

This is a good book, whether you believe Lizzie was guilty or innocent or are just curious about the case. The information in this book is accurate. This and the transcripts of the inquest, preliminary hearing and trial are what I used when I covered this case on my podcast. There is a lot of unsubstantiated stories regarding Lizzie, and while the author mentions some she also mentions the counterpoints at the same time.
This is one of the most interesting true crime events you can research.

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