In her debut novel, Sarah Schmidt tackles the notorious case of Lizzie Borden, the woman accused of killing her father and step-mother (which gave rise to a renowned bit of doggerel).

Borden was cleared in her trial, but one cannot write a novel such as this without putting forward a theory of who did it, and Schmidt gives us her take on it with a convincing use of narrative and character development.

Schmidt imparts the story through four narrative voices. There are the Borden sisters, Emma and Lizzie, and their maid Bridget, all based on people involved in these events. There is also Benjamin, a violent young man driven by resentment of the father that abandoned his family for another woman, who hovers around the family at the crucial time, observing what is going on. Each of these could easily be an unreliable narrator, issuing a self-serving account of events.

The parallels between Benjamin's background and that of Lizzie and Emma are striking and, since his presence is mostly unremarked upon by other characters, it's tempting to think of him as some kind of alter-ego for one of them. I'm not sure that's what Schmidt intended, but it added a bit of additional interest to think of him in that way. ( )

I might come back and change this to 2 stars later if I'm feeling less charitable. ( )

3.5 - Holy smokes this one was gruesome and creepy, but SO compelling. ( )

When I began this book, I wasn't enjoying it and thought I should put it down. When I got to Part 2, the book picks up a ton and I really started to enjoy it more and more to the point I am excited to buy it once the book is released.

This is the story of Lizzie Borden who, as legend goes, killed both her step mother and father with an ax and then called the police on herself. She supposedly killed them with tons of witnesses around and was released following her trial. She then moves back home and becomes an outcast to the town she lived in all her life. That is not a spoiler, but rather history.

The book is told from various perspectives- Lizzie's, her sister Emma, the maid Bridget, the uncle, and her uncle's "friend"- Benjamin. Lizzie and the murders are obviously the center of this book, but the book gives a story that Lizzie wasn't involved in the murders and comes up with an alternative suspect, but it is hard to dismiss Lizzie. She has different stories, can't quite remember things well, and has a strange relationship with her sister-almost obsessive. It is the different perspectives that make the story fun.

I gave this one 4 stars and will probably re-read it in its final format.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to this book early. I received it in exchange for an honest review. ( )

For her debut novel, author Sarah Schmidt chose to tackle the famous Lizzie Borden case. More than a hundred years later, this double murder is still discussed and new theories are still be put forward. Although it becomes clear that the author strongly suspects Lizzie of killing her father and step-mother, she doesn’t settle the mystery but instead explores the characters around the murder and has the reader constantly wondering what does Lizzie know and what did she do.

Lizzie and her sister Emma are ten years apart in age, with Lizzie being thirty-two and Emma forty-two at the time of the murders. Both sisters had problems with their controlling father and step-mother, but Emma was out of town at the time of the murders so Lizzie was the sister who came under suspicion. Lizzie also apparently had a history of instability. There was also Bridget, the maid, whose savings Mrs. Borden had taken, Uncle John, brother of the sister’s dead mother, who disapproved of how the sisters were being treated, and a stranger, Benjamin, hired by Uncle John, to set his brother-in-law straight.

The story shifts perspective between the characters as the day of the murder is re-imagined, and we are drawn into this unhealthy family full of resentments and frustrations. The author writes in a very descriptive way, about the emotions, actions, sights and smells that percolate as tensions mount to the eventual boil. Atmospheric, chilling and dark, See What I Have Done is an intense read and an excellent debut. ( )