The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

Title: The Trial of Lizzie Borden

Author: Cara Robertson

Read by:  Amanda Carlin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 47 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

Lizzie Borden had an ax.  Gave her mother forth whacks.  When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.  I think we have all heard the famous nursery rhyme, but who is the woman behind it?  Who was Lizzie Borden?  What exactly was the crime?  And why was she let go after her trial?

This audiobook went through the history of the family, the crime, and all of the particulars of the trial.  I had not read about the trial previously.  I was amazed that in that day, the fact that Lizzie was having her period at the time, could be considered as a cause of her killing her father and stepmother as everyone knew that women on their period were libel to go into a crazed rage.  The other point that seemed to make people think Lizzie was the killer was because she had complete control of her emotions and didn’t break down into feminine tears too often.  I saw this for myself when a murder was committed in my home town.  The suspected murderer’s facial expressions and the way he acted was enough to condemn him in the eyes of the locals.  Lizzie had the same problem.  I am good at controlling my emotions as well and may not break down after a sad event until days later by myself.  If I were Lizzie, they would have condemned me for the lack of emotion as well.

As it has been hotly debated for over 100 years, I am still not certain myself if Lizzie was guilty or not.  The audiobook did a wonderful job of presenting all of the facts both ways, but did not give an opinion on her guilt.  Was it someone else?  Why did Lizzie act so peculiar when questioned?  I guess we’ll never know.

I must admit, I did not like the narrator of this audiobook.  Her voice sounded to me almost like a robot voice, I thought at first that Siri was narrating the book.  I realized her voice just had a strange cadence.  I feel bad that it bothered me, but it did.  Luckily the story was intriguing enough to keep me tuned in.

Overall, The Trial of Lizzie Borden is fascinating history.