The Secrets of Lizzie Borden

by Brandy Purdy

  Per Lizzie’s instructions, there was no funeral. Dressed in a white lace gown with a bouquet of pink verbena, Lizzie Borden lay in state in her black coffin alone in the parlor at Maplecroft.

  As the sun set, Vida Pearson Turner, the soloist from the Central Congregationalist Church, came in and sang “My Ain Countrie” in her rich contralto voice to the empty room, then quietly collected her fee from the undertaker and was told to go home and tell no one about the service she had just rendered for the deceased.

  After nightfall, six Negro pallbearers in black suits carried Lizzie Borden to her final rest. She was laid at her father’s feet in Oak Grove Cemetery.

  After reading about Lizzie’s death in a newspaper, Emma suffered a dizzy spell and fell down the basement steps of the Connor sisters’ farm and shattered her hip. She never recovered and died nine days later on June 10, 1927. Orrin Gardner was at her bedside, holding her hand when she died.

  Emma had been frugal with her inheritance and lived simply and reclusively, in a manner that would have made her father proud. Through thrift alone, rather than shrewd management and investments, she had nearly doubled her fortune by the time of her death. She left funds for a business scholarship to be established in her father’s name, with Orrin Gardner to act as administrator; the rest was divided amongst various charities, including numerous old-age homes, hospitals, orphanages, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and the YMCA. The lone personal bequest was $10,000 to Orrin Gardner. Her body was taken by train back to Fall River and she was buried beside Lizzie in Oak Grove Cemetery.

  Orrin Gardner never married. He continued teaching and eventually became a high school principal. He died in a convalescent home in 1944.

  Nance O’Neil capriciously abandoned the stage, determined to replicate her success on the screen. But her vibrant stage presence failed to translate to the new medium; on film her gestures seemed too broad and histrionic. Exciting new stars, like exotic vamp Theda Bara and Mary Pickford, with her plucky personality and long golden curls, had captured the public’s imagination, and Nance O’Neil was soon forgotten. Her roles diminished in both quality and quantity until the former great lady of the stage was reduced to playing bit parts, often glimpsed fleetingly as a face in the crowd, for $5 a day and a boxed lunch. She died forgotten, penniless, and alone in an old-age home in 1965 surrounded by souvenirs of her former glory. To her chagrin, whenever the occasional reporter came to interview her they were always more interested in her relationship with Lizzie Borden than hearing Nance reminisce about her life upon the stage.

  In 1943 when she thought she was dying, Bridget Sullivan summoned a trusted friend, Minnie Green, to her bedside to hear a secret she longed to be unburdened of. Before Minnie arrived, Bridget recovered, and reconsidered. She died on March 26, 1948, at her Montana home surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She was eighty-two years old. Whatever her secret was, this time there was no attempt at a deathbed confession; Bridget took it with her to the grave.

  The house at 92 Second Street still stands. Restored to appear as it did at the time of the Borden murders and rumored to be haunted by unquiet spirits that figured in the tragedy, today it is a popular bed-and-breakfast.

  A note regarding Edwin H. Porter: Mr. Porter was a journalist for The Fall River Globe and the author of the first full-length book about the Borden murders, which Lizzie Borden is rumored to have bought up and burned en masse, with only a few copies escaping the bonfire. In this novel he appears as a composite character to personalize Lizzie’s enmity for the intrusive press coverage that dogged her from the time of the murders to the end of her life. This portrayal should not be taken as a true indication of his actions or character.

  Further Reading

  Brown, Arnold R. Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1991.

  Kent, David. Forty Whacks: New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden. Emmaus, PA: Yankee Books, 1992.

  Lincoln, Victoria. A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967.

  Martins, Michael, and Dennis A. Binette. Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River. Fall River, MA: Fall River Historical Society, 2011.

  Radin, Edward D. Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1961.

  Rehak, David. Did Lizzie Borden Axe for It? CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010.

  Spiering, Frank. Lizzie: The Story of Lizzie Borden. New York: Random House, 1984.

  A READING GROUP GUIDE

  THE SECRETS OF LIZZIE BORDEN

  Brandy Purdy

  About This Guide

  The suggested questions are included

  to enhance your group’s

  reading of Brandy Purdy’s

  The Secrets of Lizzie Borden.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Despite his great wealth, Andrew Borden denies his daughters even commonplace luxuries like modern plumbing and lighting; he uses the threat of disinheritance to control them and keeps them from leaving home and marrying by denouncing all men as fortune hunters. Why do you think he does this? Is it fear of the poverty he experienced as a child returning, is it really about domination and power, or is he scared of being alone in his old age?

  2. Lizzie secretly admits that she sees much of Abby in herself. Under different circumstances could they have been friends? How did their relationship change as Lizzie grew up and how did Emma’s hostility influence it?

  3. Discuss Lizzie’s Grand Tour. Was the trip a wise decision or did it leave her hopelessly dissatisfied with her life in Fall River? Would Lizzie’s life have played out differently if she hadn’t gone to Europe and experienced an unattainable lifestyle? What do you think of the handsome young Englishman she met? Was the romance real or all in Lizzie’s mind? What do you think of her father’s reaction to the romance and her subsequent behavior regarding the letters?

  4. Discuss Lizzie’s sexuality and various romances. Which ones were real mutual attractions and which ones were only wishful thinking on Lizzie’s part? Could any of them have led to lasting happiness? Was Andrew Borden right to discourage his daughter by repeatedly warning her against fortune hunters or was there more than a grain of truth in his cruelly worded warnings? When it comes to men, caution and fear always temper Lizzie’s desire, yet in her world passion between women is forbidden. Do you think Lizzie only wanted a real and lasting love regardless of gender?

  5. Lizzie harbors an almost lifelong obsession with Lulie Stillwell. Why is Lizzie never able to forget her? What do you think of their schoolgirl friendship? What motivated it? Was there truly a lesbian element? Look at it from Lulie’s perspective. What did she feel for Lizzie?

  6. Discuss the constant hostility simmering in the house on 92 Second Street—the anger, resentment, greed, control, petty crimes, and retaliations. Was there any way this family could ever have lived peacefully together? If you were a therapist and had the Bordens sitting in front of you what would you tell them?

  7. Discuss the events leading up to the murders. What, if anything, could have prevented them? Was Lizzie unhinged by rage and panic and not responsible for her actions, was she driven to murder by others, or were her actions more calculated?

  8. How do you feel about Andrew Borden’s attempt to continue controlling his daughters’ lives from beyond the grave through the terms of his will? Was this truly the ultimate betrayal Lizzie felt it was or just typical behavior of the man given his character?

  9. Why do Bridget and Dr. Bowen each help Lizzie in their own way after the murders? What motivates them to take the risk?

  10. When she is facing trial, Lizzie says, “Even though I knew I was guilty, I believed implicitly in my innocence.” What does she mean by this? What do you think of her attempts to justify herself?

  11. Discuss Lizzie’s life after the trial. Does her inheritance bring her
happiness? What do you think of the way she is treated by others? Do you feel sorry for her or did she get what she deserved?

  12. Lizzie came very close to marrying her cousin Orrin Gardner. What do you think of their decision to end their relationship because of the public outcry over their engagement? Should they have stuck together and weathered the media circus or were they right to part?

  13. Discuss the relationship between Lizzie and her sister, Emma, throughout their lives. How does it change after the trial? At one point Emma says to Lizzie, “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones. God sometimes punishes those He only seems to favor by giving them exactly what they want.” What do you make of this? Why does Emma eventually leave Lizzie? Was she right to do so? Was her life after leaving Lizzie better or worse?

  14. Lizzie Borden’s relationship with the flamboyant actress Nance O’Neil has always attracted a great deal of curiosity and controversy. What was the attraction? What did each hope to gain from the affair? Discuss the roles love, lust, fame, and greed played in the relationship.

  15. Was Lizzie right to give up on love?

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

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  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2016 by Brandy Purdy

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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  eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-8892-9

  eISBN-10: 0-7582-8892-1

  First Kensington Electronic Edition: February 2016

  ISBN: 978-0-7582-8891-2