Erika Mailman has a thing or three to say about gossamers…
I’m always intrigued when someone as brilliant as Erika Mailman, an award-winning author, decides to write a book about Lizzie Borden or, specifically, her Irish maid, Bridget Sullivan. What was it about the young immigrant that touched the author’s heart?
Mailman portrays the young girl as a kind and loyal domestic to the Borden household, yet acutely aware that stepdaughters Emma and Lizzie have no love for the elder Mrs. Borden. The uneasy tensions in the house lead to Bridget’s early resignation, but she is lured back by a generous sum of money from the grateful Mrs. Borden, who is eager to keep a smiling face in the dour Borden household.
The first thing that struck me about Mailman’s writing was her mastery of the trial transcripts. She takes extraordinary care with every detail, perhaps knowing Lizzieheads would be ruthless in their critiques. She knows well the women she writes about and the audience she is serving. I was more than impressed.
I believe we learn a lot when a historical person’s character is revealed through the interpretation of another writer. I wondered, “Would she see Bridget as I have?” I found Bridget to be truthful and compelling, and so did Mailman and the prosecution team of 1892. Bridget is the one to believe.
I was moved when I read Bridget’s reaction to the autopsy of half-naked Mrs. Borden, her body carved by a coroner’s tool to remove her stomach. Seeing the body, lying immodest and undignified on an autopsy cooling table, Bridget is overcome with sadness and disgust. Without speaking the words, we feel Bridget’s disdain for Lizzie. Bridget sees right through Lizzie’s selfish and self-entitled ways. Again, Mailman is historically accurate in her portrayal of Lizzie Borden.
What makes this book so unique is that it contains elements of creative nonfiction while we are in Bridget’s head and fiction while in Lizzie’s head, plus Mailman creates a modern character named Brooke who lives with genetic ties to Bridget in 2016.
Brooke travels to Fall River, MA, to spend some time at the murder house, now a B&B, to help deepen her understanding of the events that occurred there and how they relate to her life. There, she slowly puts all the pieces together in a modern context that ties the two storylines together.
Mailman keeps us turning those pages with her short chapters aptly named after the important spinsters in the story. The beginning of each chapter begins with the date, so you know exactly where you are in the timeline of the trial, something I know diehards will appreciate.
Of special interest to those familiar with my last blog, “Did Lizzie Borden Use a Gossamer for Murder?” it appears that Mailman and I share the same hypothesis (said in her own unique way as a novelist), and she shares it in one memorable sentence on page 234 of her book “The Murderer’s Maid.” She writes, “And no mistake—Lizzie chose it for her purpose in case she couldn’t change in time afterward, in case the gossamer raincoat didn’t cover everything.” I loved her economy of words saying so much with so little. I would expect nothing less from someone with an MFA in creative writing.
On page 245, Mailman once again gives us a delicious treat: a look inside Lizzie’s mind with an imagined scenario.
She brought up an image in her head that was so uproarious that she burst out laughing. Lizzie in her gossamer, the blue-and-brown plaid waterproof coat. Lizzie presenting herself to Mrs. Borden in it.
Mrs. Borden, “Why, Lizzie, it’s not raining, it’s such a hot day and never will rain.” All button up. A glossy surface, so easy to clean. And she had her monthlies. And the lads were riding the trolley. And she was angry.”
That’s hysterical to imagine. I’d had similar thoughts but Erika beat me to it.
On page 349 is my last treat for the hardcore spinster’s club: the beloved Dr. Dolan, Fall River’s medical examiner. I laughed out loud when I read, “Dr. Dolan was a man who might be considered handsome if he didn’t always lift his head while talking, like an alert mastiff.”
That is some funny stuff, and if you are a lover of all things Lizzie Borden, then I highly recommend this book to help broaden your understanding of Bridget Sullivan, the controversial maid of the household … as well as Lizzie Borden’s dark and shocking secret, which I cannot reveal here.
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