A novelist most of her career, the late Victoria Lincoln spent years writing this carefully researched and intuitive portrait of the greatest of Catholic Saints (my own opinion)and the founder of the discalced Carmelite order of nuns. Teresa was poorly understood in her own time, and canonized for the wrong reasons, which is why she continues to be misunderstood by most people today. In a recent book on leadership, Garry Wills referred to her in a dismissive manner that revealed his own ignorance of her life, an ignorance promoted by the very church that claims to revere her. Working from Teresa's writings, including her letters (and reading skillfully between the lines) Lincoln convinces the reader that here was a human being for all times, a woman of very human impulses and emotions who transcended her limitations to explore the very nature of faith, asking questions of herself that would terrify most of today's public "Christians". She also had to face the constant threat of the Inquisition, who on more than one occasion came close to condemning a woman who would someday become an icon of the Spanish Church, along with her friend John of the Cross. The book is so painstaking in its recreation of Teresa's life that it can be difficult to follow at times. Lincoln not only has to tell a story but to make a case for her interpretation of it, but her humor and empathy, the quality of her research, and the painful beauty of her prose more than reward the reader for persistance. Some Catholics may be shocked at the revelations in the book (Teresa may have been less than chaste as a novice, and was falsely suspected of sexual misconduct later on), but this is no tawdry expose but an honest look at a woman who in spite of her conviction of her own unworthiness, strove for an ever closer communion with God, without ever losing sight of her humanity. You should meet her; read this book.

The author grew up on the next block in Fall River; she knew Lizzie from the "dubious source of in-group hearsay". Lizzie Borden was the sane, civilized woman accused of a madman's crime. The case interests many because of her sole opportunity to commit the crime, yet the idea of guilt is incredible. There are two legends. One was a simple, warm hearted girl who became the victim of the police and an ambitious DA. The other was a grasping murderess who lusted after a fortune (p.29). Up on the Hill they thought Lizzie did it, also loved her Dad, but suffered from a "spell" or temporary insanity seen in some families. Lizzie's mother suffered from migraine and fits of rage (p.47). The author claims a form of epilepsy for the crime.

VL claimed Lizzie's inquest testimony told what specific facts Bridget was paid not to tell. But does anyone have any proof that Bridget was ever paid to shield Lizzie? Page 38 tells of the good works Lizzie did before the tragedy. VL read both volumes of the Trial transcript and the preliminary investigation. VL believed Uncle John was used in a scheme to get Abby away from the house that morning, and mailed a letter to cover it up. VL also tells how the Fall River Globe and Providence Journal were against Lizzie, while those who knew her Dad were not. VL imagines a hiding place from the testimony about not searching "2 or 3 dresses" (p.153). Wasn't this confession of "culpable negligence" just a trick to make the jury believe that dress was there? Page 121 tells of a "broken off handle", but common sense says it was sawn off! Page 210 tells about Jennings secret documents kept hidden to his dying day, and beyond, to prevent their use in "any new phases of police investigation". VL notes circumstantial evidence stands while eyewitnesses may lie or be mistaken, and is the only evidence available for crimes done in secret. It may be questioned by "the man in the street" because it assumes or infers from the facts (p.215).

VL says Lizzie was lucky in that her judge was appointed to the bench when her lawyer was Governor. But I wonder if assigning the right judge to the right case is just payback time (p.229). The book skips over Kieran's testimony and its importance (p.235)! Kieran could not see his assistant from the doorway when he was on the floor, and could only see him if he turned his head when going down the steps. VL is also wrong in stating the hatchet found in the cellar was the murder weapon; we know now that the murder weapon left a shred of gilt paint in Abby's skull, so it was fairly new. And Knowlton knew this! VL also omits Justice Dewey's quotes on evidence and experts (p.291-4); it is as true today as then.

The verdict of 'not guilty' was followed by a lengthy joyous pandemonium of cheers. The Providence Journal was alone in expressing dissatisfaction (p.296). Book Six tells of the aftermath. Lizzie's unpopularity resulted from two events. The suppression of "The Fall River Tragedy" (based on articles from a newspaper) meant that people could not reread the story. The Tilden-Thurber episode of alleged shoplifting was the last straw. Could the Yankees on the Hill accept parricide but choke on shoplifting (p.305)? VL quotes Phillips as to "signs of a lack of balance in later years" (p.306). And Lizzie became declasse after that big Maplecroft party for actors. VL says Bridget later moved to Montana, married, had children, and died aged 86 years (p.313). She concludes by telling about Lizzie's later years, death, and funeral. Emma broke a leg after hearing this, and and died ten days later. All lie buried in Oak Grove cemetery. In 1991 Arnold R Brown published his solution to the crime. Lizzie (and Emma and Uncle John) were innocent of the murders, but not of the cover-up.

I have read many, many books about the Lizzie Borden case, and this one is the best. Not only is it so well-written that I find it impossible to put down, it gives an indepth history of the case and presents many facts which previously had been ignored. Although I don't necessarily believe Miss Lincoln's solution to the case (her diagnosis of Lizzie's temporal epilepsy is a bit far-fetched), I entirely believe her assertions that Lizzie hid her dress under another dress, that Lizzie wore her father's coat while she killed him, and that Lizzie did go to the barn to break the hatchet handle with the "vice-like thing" and was seen by the ice cream vendor. Miss Lincoln writes with the premise that since she is a woman and from Fall River, she can better understand Lizzie, the woman, than any other writer. She may be right. She has an uncanny ability to take the most innocuous comments made by Lizzie and others and see them for what they really were: clues. This is a good starting place for a Lizzie Borden novice, and a good read for someone who is just curious about the case or just enjoys a good book.

On a stiflingly hot August morning in 1892 Lizzie Borden, of Fall River, Massachusetts, chopped her stepmother to death with an ax. An hour and a half later, she killed her father the same way. Although the story has been told by those least qualified to do so -- outsiders and men. Now, for the first time, this famous American crime is examined by someone with all the proper credentials: Victoria Lincoln is a native of Fall River and thus knows the never-revealed "inside" story of the crime that insular community regarded as its "private disgrace"; she is a woman, and as she convincingly demonstrates, the Borden murders -- and their solution -- can be fully understood only by a fellow woman.

Miss Lincoln comes up with startling new findings in her penetrating analysis of the crime. Among them: the hitherto unknown motive for the killings (a secret no one but an inhabitant of Fall River, Massachusetts, ever could possibly disclose); a startling new hypothesis to account for Lizzie's celebrated "peculiar spells" that casts new light on how the crime was committed; and the place where Lizzie hid the dress she was wearing at the time of the murders -- a mystery that has been plaguing criminologists for years.

A PRIVATE DISGRACE is far more than a superb book of fact crime; it is a distinguished piece of writing. Victoria Lincoln is a seasoned, best-selling novelist who has a special relationship with her subject: as a child, she not only lived up the street from Lizzie Borden, but knew her personally. Step by step, Miss Lincoln unfolds the background of the crime; she evokes the special mores of the Fall River upper crust who lived "up on the hill"; she painstakingly re-creates the inquest where Lizzie nakedly admitted her guilt and then was saved by a fantastic stroke of luck -- because of a technicality, the damning inquest trial. But Miss Lincoln does not end with Lizzie's celebrated aquittal; she takes the story beyond to her latter days when, as Lizbeth of Maplecroft, Lizzie lived perhaps her strangest life of all.

The Borden case is one of the most enduring -- and perplexing -- landmarks in American crime annals. A PRIVATE DISGRACE is bound to be regarded as the classic book on this classic American crime.

Ms. Radford has allowed us the opportunity to peak in on intimate meetings of individuals with President Lincoln. From statesmen to soldiers, widows to young boys, Americans who had the opportunity to speak firsthand with Abraham Lincoln while he served as President share a common experience. Each felt as if he had the president's undivided attention and utmost respect. If you're looking for a hero, America still has one in Honest Abe. This book is a treat for history buffs.