The Borden Tragedy

In this book, Rick Geary adapts the writings of an unknown person who was privy to information about the Lizzie Borden murder case as it unfolded, probably someone who was a friend of the family. Geary does a great job of laying out the setup of the house and the circumstances leading up to the crime as well as the later trial and other developments. He also presents several possibilities of what may have happened. This was a very interesting read and although I had read another book about the crime years ago, this one was better detailed. The book ends with some samples of newspaper articles written at the time of the crime.

This graphic novel is part of the Victorian Murder Treasury and the best one of these books I have read so far. What makes this book so readable is the way it is told as though it was through the eyes of a local doing their own investigation. It presents the facts in a very clear and concise way and explains the different opinions on Lizzie Borden's innocence with the facts used to back them up. The book also includes several newspaper articles and notes from the trial to provide more historical background. My only complaint is the picture of O.J. Simpson on the back cover with Lizzie Borden's and the list of statements comparing the two cases. There is no text in the book comparing the two cases and the narrator states that she show more believes Lizzie to have been innocent; the text on the back contradicts the narrator and since there is no mention of the O.J. Simpson case in the text, it seems strange to place his picture on the back. show less

On August 4, 1892, the town of Fall River, Massachusetts, was shocked by the grisly murders of Andrew and Abby Borden. Andrew was a wealthy man married to his second wife and the father of 2 spinster daughters, Emma and Lizzie. Lizzie alerted the family maid to the murders after she saw her father's body slumped on the blood-soaked sofa in the sitting room; Abby's body lay in a pool of blood in her dressing room on the second floor of the Borden home. After the police finished their investigation Lizzie was arrested for the double homicide and sent to prison. During her subsequent trial she was acquitted of the crime and she returned to Fall River to live out her life never quite without suspicion that she had gotten away with show more murder.

This well-drawn graphic novel lays out the facts quite well and shows that the evidence against Lizzie was circumstantial but also that no other viable suspect was ever uncovered. Newspaper reports from Boston and New York papers during the investigation and trial are included at the end of the book as well as a modern comparison by the author between Lizzie Borden and O.J. Simpson. The book is short and interesting but I find my old eyes have a problem reading the small printing in the picture panels. show less

The graphic novel follows a unnamed lifelong friend of Lizzie Bordon as she attempts to make sense of how such a tragedy not only befell her friend, but came to be blamed on her as well. (The narrator is based on an unpublished memoir from a resident of Fall River that was discovered in 1990.)

Fantastically drawn in black and white, the frames reminded me of old newspaper drawings. Geary immediately jumps into the action, describing the sweltering heat of that fateful August and introducing the Bordon family at a distance as the story remains true to our narrator's point of view. While the narrator purports to be a confidant of Lizzie's, there are no great secrets revealed - no intimate details, no sensational confessions, not even a show more transcript of the jailhouse visit. So while this does prevent a fairly uncluttered point of view, it also seems to be somewhat of a tease as it only serves to present a good reason to give Lizzie the presumption of innocence.

Rather than concentrate on the murders, the fallout and investigation are the meat of the matter - and why not? Crimes of the Century are a national pastime and this was one of the biggest. It had everything - wealth, social status, spinster daughters, rumors of family strife and enough idiosyncrasies amongst the living and dead to keep things fresh in the news. If we would like to fool ourselves into thinking we were better about privacy or somehow classier about gossip, this case should put those fantasies to rest. Geary presents the citizens of Fall River as lookie-loo extremists - standing outside the house for nearly a week in hopes of gaining glimpses of he bodies or of the sisters. If they weren't standing outside, they were granting interviews to newspapers to offer of sensational "facts" that would later be retracted (Geary presents some of the articles as printed in an appendix).

All in all, this is a quick read and an interesting look into the events in Fall River. The point of view is fresh with a small town that has been thrust into the spotlight feel to it. show less

This graphic novel is part of the Victorian Murder Treasury and the best one of these books I have read so far. What makes this book so readable is the way it is told as though it was through the eyes of a local doing their own investigation. It presents the facts in a very clear and concise way and explains the different opinions on Lizzie Borden's innocence with the facts used to back them up. The book also includes several newspaper articles and notes from the trial to provide more historical background. My only complaint is the picture of O.J. Simpson on the back cover with Lizzie Borden's and the list of statements comparing the two cases. There is no text in the book comparing the two cases and the narrator states that she show more believes Lizzie to have been innocent; the text on the back contradicts the narrator and since there is no mention of the O.J. Simpson case in the text, it seems strange to place his picture on the back. show less

This graphic novel is part of the Victorian Murder Treasury and the best one of these books I have read so far. What makes this book so readable is the way it is told as though it was through the eyes of a local doing their own investigation. It presents the facts in a very clear and concise way and explains the different opinions on Lizzie Borden's innocence with the facts used to back them up. The book also includes several newspaper articles and notes from the trial to provide more historical background. My only complaint is the picture of O.J. Simpson on the back cover with Lizzie Borden's and the list of statements comparing the two cases. There is no text in the book comparing the two cases and the narrator states that she show more believes Lizzie to have been innocent; the text on the back contradicts the narrator and since there is no mention of the O.J. Simpson case in the text, it seems strange to place his picture on the back. show less

This graphic novel is part of the Victorian Murder Treasury and the best one of these books I have read so far. What makes this book so readable is the way it is told as though it was through the eyes of a local doing their own investigation. It presents the facts in a very clear and concise way and explains the different opinions on Lizzie Borden's innocence with the facts used to back them up. The book also includes several newspaper articles and notes from the trial to provide more historical background. My only complaint is the picture of O.J. Simpson on the back cover with Lizzie Borden's and the list of statements comparing the two cases. There is no text in the book comparing the two cases and the narrator states that she show more believes Lizzie to have been innocent; the text on the back contradicts the narrator and since there is no mention of the O.J. Simpson case in the text, it seems strange to place his picture on the back. show less