Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1308652 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Customer Reviews

Careless or clueless?
The first error is on the copyright page, which states that the cover photo, the Newport, R.I. vacation shot of Lizzie taken in 1893, was taken prior to the murders - which took place in 1892! The author later identifies a three-quarter portrait of Lizzie as a "profile" view. Again and again, Ms. Chaney does not take the time that Rick Geary, for one, does (in his graphic novel of the case) to state that many of the events of the murder morning are in dispute. Rather, she forges ahead, proclaiming without any doubt that Lizzie "walked downstairs dressed in a blue Bengalese (sic - the word is "Bengaline") silk skirt and blouse" and that "Abby told Lizzie that she had gotten a note from a sick friend that morning and was going out to visit her." This last is, of course, one of the most questioned and speculated-upon issues of the case.

This book is, unfortunately, as inventive as Victoria Lincoln's well-written but ultimately semi-fictional epic, A PRIVATE DISGRACE. One photo caption reads, "Lizzie as a young woman. She loved the theater, but rejected it for a higher calling to the church, primarily because she wanted to feel useful and accepted." And your references, Ms. Chaney? In thirty-five years of researching the case I have never read anywhere that the young Miss Borden was smitten with the theater. It's a romantic notion, and it bookends nicely with the actual older Lizzie's embrace of the stage, but it seem entirely to be an invention on the author's part. And where, pray tell, are Lizzie's motives so definitely set down for all to see? Perhaps the book ought to be titled LIZZIE BORDEN, AS I IMAGINE HER.

A Huge Yawn For This One
Don't breakout your credit cards for this book...Karen Chaney's book New England Remembers should be titled New England Should Forget This Book - besides the fact that the book is filled with historical inaccuracies (which raises the question is Karen Chaney a real crime historian?) it reads like a menu at a bad Chinese restaurant - "same old, same old."
New England Remembers is not insightful and not very thought provoking which translates to - better spend your money elsewhere.

Nice to Meet You Lizzie!
This is a terrific read! Well researched and well written. By the end of the book, I felt like I really knew Lizzie -- and even sympathized with her. Ms. Chaney does an admirable job conveying the the tragedy's complexities within such a few pages. I hope as a result Ms. Chaney gains a broad and much deserved readership.