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

Reviewed by: Kristin Taylor - Biddeford High School, Biddeford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 2, 2016

Review

Sarah Miller has written a readable and straightforward work on the brutal deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden that happened 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew's youngest daughter, Lizzie, was placed on trial and acquitted by a jury for the deaths of her father and step-mother. Miller gives an unbiased account of what happened on that day and the trial that proceeded allowing the readers to form their own thoughts and opinions.

Illustrations are from the murder scene, trial and Borden family photos and are used to support the information that has been provided. There are strategically placed fact boxes or sidebars to help explain the legal terms used and how daily life was during that time span so that readers can understand the information provided. In the beginning of the book, there is a "Who's Who" section letting the reader know who the people are and their relation to Lizzie and the crime. Miller has done her research and has presented the facts as they have been told and recorded to the best of her ability with the information that is available. Table of contents, bibliographical references and index are also provided.

Recommended for readers grades 7-12 and anyone who is a true crime buff and remembers the old song from childhood -- "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."

Overall Book Score: excellent