No, but I have consumed other media for it (movie, show, etc.)
I haven't even heard of this book
Partly/did not finish
I am currently reading
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Voting ended onDec 17, 2023
note: If you did not finish but feel you read enough to form an opinion, you may choose a ‘Yes’ option instead of 'Partly' (e.g., Yes, I didn’t like it). Interpret "neutral or complicated" however you like, I intended this category to be a broad option between like and dislike.
Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one....
The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny.
But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness.
This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.
I know we’re heading toward the end of Pride Month, but it’s never too late to expand your reading to include more books with LGBTQ representation! In this post, I’ll be giving you some recommendations of books that feature characters across the spectrum of queer identities, based on the literary works, genres, and tropes you already know you like:
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Yay, a tag game! I’d say that’s just what the doctor ordered, but…well that hits a little too close to home right now 😂 thanks for thinking of me, @sirsparklepants!
Favorite colors: I mean, all of them, especially bright neons and rich jewel tones, though I also love black (both as an accent and an end unto itself). I guess if I had to pick I’d go with the purple-magenta-pink-red spectrum.
Currently reading: I picked up Maplecroft, by Cherie Priest, while I was recovering from surgery last week—I read it when it came out a few years ago, and it’s exactly the kind of atmospheric slow-build horror that I love and am trying to write.
Last song: That I listened to intentionally, rather than just in the background? “Seven Devils” by Florence and the Machine. Something about that whirling dervish of a chord progression really speaks to the chaos of this time in my life, even if the lyrics are a bit morbid in this context.
Last series: I’m maybe eighteen episodes away from the end of Supernatural, and I’ll admit it’s become a bit of a slog. So I’m taking a break with the last season of The Good Place. Also, @redmyeyes pointed out that Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which has been on my hand-wavy back-burner I’ll-get-to-it-sometime list for a while, would make an excellent convalescing show, so I may try that out.
Sweet, savory, or spicy: in typical me fashion: all of them! Preferably in some interesting combination.
Craving: honestly, nothing much. I’m feeling a little too wound up to want food right now—unexpected hospital stays will do that to you.
Currently working on: resting and healing, same as @sirsparklepants. Hoping the IV antibiotics will kick this nascent infection and my second ankle surgery won’t be too delayed.
I already have a ticket! So excited! I had tickets for the Signature Theatre production that got canceled 😭 so I’m SO glad that I get to it experience this production! LIZZIE has been one of my absolute dearest musicals since the concept album was released. I even got a pear tattoo when I visited the house in Fall River because it made me think of Will You Stay ❤️. Honestly Alice is one of my dream roles.
If anyone is looking for some Borden reading to pass the time until the stream, I HIGHLY recommend Cara Robertson’s The Trial of Lizzie Borden (non fiction) and Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done (speculative fiction).
LIZZIE is going to be STREAMED for the first time ever January 21. Experience @roltheatre ‘s critically-acclaimed production of the high-octane, girl-powered LIZZIE from home, along with a live Q&A with the writers and performances from the cast. Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/lizzie-the-virtual-musical-experience-tickets-133748097159
A special one-night only rebroadcast of ROLT's 2015 production of LIZZIE
LGBT Rep: Lesbian/wlw main and minor character (in a romantic relationship with each other)
Spoiler-Free Review:
Well, this is embarrassing. This book is a reread for me, and I picked it out because I remember liking it a lot, and I thought that it was a book that people probably didn’t know about. But reading again...it didn’t end how I remembered it ending. There’s one (very spoilerific) thing that is very different from how I remember it happening. I’ll get into more details for a spoiler review under the cut, but just know this difference might hinder my ability to recommend the book to everyone.
Synopsis: The premise of the book is Lizzie Borden vs. Cthulhu monsters. Lizzie Borden (yes, the alleged axe murderer Lizzie Borden) kills Lovecraftian monsters with her axe. It’s a very good premise and in the book Lizzie is gay! Actually, in real life she was very likely gay, and very likely had a romantic relationship with Nance O’Neil, a stage and silent movie actress. In this book, Lizzie and Nance are blatantly dating each other. It’s not just hinted at; it exists outright. Nance is referred to as Lizzie’s lover by her and actually by other characters too. Lesbian or other terms are never used, because it takes place from the point of view of characters from the early 20th century, and that kind of language didn’t exist, but their queer identities are made obvious.
The Good: One thing I found actually refreshing is that when other characters did acknowledge Lizzie and Nance’s relationship, the worst it got was them just saying they wouldn’t comment on it. There were no direct implications that they’re doing anything morally wrong, or that their relationship says something negatively about their characters. Nance does have an antagonistic relationship with Lizzie’s sister Emma, but its not because she’s Lizzie’s girlfriend. It’s because she’s Nance O’Neil, and that does reflect historical events to some extent.
What Might Hinder You from Reading It: One thing that might be an issue for some people, but wouldn’t necessarily deter me from recommending it, is that there’s a lot of angst in this book involving the relationship between Lizzie and Nance. The angst has nothing to do with the fact that they’re both women, but there’s angst there for sure, and I understand people not eager to read angst-filled f/f romance, because it’s too common. To explain more would involve spoilers, which I’ll get into after the cut in case anyone wants to avoid that.
How the angst-filled relationship concludes also might not be satisfying, so I’m not going to recommend it outright, but I’m also not going to say don’t read it. How I feel about it is actually complicated. I will say that how it ended was not exactly for I remember, and it’s a bit of an issue for me right now. If you don’t care about spoilers, follow under the page cut for further explanation.
Also, just be aware that though this book is fantastical, it is definitely also a horror. It’s actually more of a horror with fantasy elements than the other way around.
Would I Recommend It?: Eh... I’m not sure. It really depends on the person and what they’re able/willing to tolerate.
Now for the Spoilers:
So the thing about this book is that there’s a large part towards the end where you think Nance O’Neil, one half of the lesbian couple, is dead. The characters do, at least. I had remembered that being concluded with them all knowing that she was alive, but her and Lizzie’s relationship ending. However, they apparently never find out if she’s alive or dead. Not only that, the book itself never clarifies if she’s alive or dead, which I could have sworn it did.
But the thing is that Nance O’Neil is a real person with a documented history with Lizzie Borden. The book takes place in 1905, but the real-life Nance O’Neil did not die in 1905. The woman has over 30 credits on IMDB (yes she has an IMDB) throughout the 1910s-1930s. So I may have been projected the fact that I knew Nance O’Neil didn’t die with the book clarifying that she didn’t. Is it technically Bury your Gays if you know that the real-life person didn’t die in the events of the book that says that she disappeared without a trace and was assumed dead? I don’t know, but it’s too close for comfort with me right now. It’s certainly places with the Bury your Gays trope, which I obviously have an issue with. I can’t in good comfort recommend it based on that.
And regardless of whether or not Nance dies, her relationship with Lizzie is definitely over at the end, which is true to history, but might be a deterrent. If you want a happy ending, this isn’t your book. I had thought that I could recommend this as a book that at least didn’t kill off one of the lesbians, but apparently I can’t!
So as an apology for that, here’s a link to a photoset I made for all my favorite pictures of Nance O’Neil, who constantly looks like she knows exactly who killed Lizzie Borden’s parents and she is not telling.
A throughline is the core or central plot thread of your story, the problem introduced in the beginning and resolved in the climax. It’s what ties everything together and keeps the audience engaged. Novels without strong throughlines have a difficult time building tension or creating satisfaction, two critical elements of fiction. Readers feel little need to finish such a novel, and if they do finish it, they’re often left wondering what the point was.
