See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

 See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt. Forthcoming August, 2017.   Atlantic Monthly Press. Adult Historical Fiction.


We all know the rhyme: "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one." The bloody and horrific murders of Andrew and Abby Borden in their home in Fall River, MA in August, 1892 has never been solved. Hundreds of books, movies, articles, and sleuthers have tried to examine the evidence and come to reasonable conclusions.

Schmidt, who lives in Australia, has written an insightful fictional account of the family, the deaths, and the aftermath. Told from varying viewpoints of Lizzie, her sister Emma, their uncle John's young acquaintance Benjamin, and their maid Bridget, the novel attempts to see inside the minds of the characters and piece together details about family life and events. It's fascinating reading and ultimately points a finger at Lizzie herself. A timeline and short excepts from each sister's will are included. Maps, photos, and trial testimony are available in other sources, but a complete bibliography is not included in the uncorrected  proof.