What really happened in the Borden household in August of 1892? Who was it who took that axe and killed Lizzie and Emma Borden's father and stepmother? Was it Lizzie, or was there someone else in the house? Would you love to find out? 

Sarah Schmidt takes us inside the Borden murder house in her novel See What I Have Done. It's a eerie imagining of the time around the murders through the thoughts and actions of Lizzie Borden, her sister Emma, their housekeeper Bridget, and an acquaintance of their Uncle John. Each character tells their part of the story, so you get to feel the atmosphere in the house, hear about the girls' childhood, piece together the relationships between all the family members, and envision what may have happened that fateful day when Andrew and Abby Borden lost their lives. 

For anyone who doesn't know the story, on August 4, 1892, grown daughter Lizzie Borden found her father, killed with an axe, and called for Bridget to help her. Neighbors were called, the police were called, and eventually Bridget and Mrs. Churchill went upstairs to look for Abby, Lizzie's stepmother, and found her murdered as well. It was Lizzie's confusion about where Abby had been that kept anyone from finding her sooner, and her strange and contradictory answers to police questions that caused suspicion to fall in her direction. Eventually she was tried and acquitted for the murders, but her place in pop culture has cemented her place as an axe murderer anyway. 

The impressive (and creepy) thing that stood out to me about this novel was the way the writing takes you into this house that pretty much everyone deemed strange. There was just something about the house, about the family, that made people uncomfortable. And as you read the novel, there is a growing chilling feeling, like the walls are closing in on you, like you can smell the rot in the home, like you can't trust anyone around you. The tension builds and builds until the end, when you can finally breathe again (and you find yourself so incredibly thankful for indoor plumbing and all the sanitation innovations that have been made in the last 125 years!). 

Anyone interested in the Lizzie Borden story, anyone wanting a chance to see through the eyes of a notorious historical figure, anyone who dreams of spending the night in the supposedly haunted Borden house (now a Bed and Breakfast, and just 50 miles south of Boston) should definitely pick up this book. And do it this week. Friday, August 4, is the 125th anniversary of the murder. 

Galleys for See What I Have Done were provided by Grove Atlantic through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.