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It's 1921, and the Burton family is vacationing on the shores of Massachusetts. Mr. Burton is a stockbroker in Boston. His 2 children, 13-year-old Amanda and 19-year-old William, have joined him. When the children were quite young, the first Mrs. Burton died. Mr. Burton subsequently suffered from poor health and remarried his nurse, a dreadful woman by the name of Audrey who the children hate. One of the most interesting facets of the vacation neighborhood is the fact that the family is living next to the infamous Lizzie Borden: 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. Although the crime took place 10 years earlier and Miss Lizzie was acquitted of the deed, the town still believes that was the killer. By accident, Amanda and Miss Lizzie meet; and a fast friendship is formed. Amanda visits her neighbor often, and Miss Lizzie teaches her card tricks. They never talk directly about what happened to Miss Lizzie's parents, but Amanda steadfastly believes in her innocence. One day, Audrey Burton viciously attacks the children with scathing observations about their behavior. She begins to hit William, over and over again. Shortly thereafter, Amanda finds her stepmother brutally murdered with, as it turns out, over 25 whacks of an axe. Of course, immediate suspicion falls on Miss Lizzie, as well as on William, who has disappeared. Assisted by a wonderfully handsome lawyer by the name of Mr. Slocum (who Amanda is convinced that she is going to marry) and a rough-hewn Pinkerton man by the name of Boyle who looked like a short, overweight, middle-aged former prize fighter, Miss Lizzie manages the investigation. I enjoyed this book immensely. Although the narrative is centered around the murder of Audrey Burton, the majority of the book focuses on the wonderful relationship between Amanda and Miss Lizzie. Told from the point of view of Amanda, we delight in seeing the world through her somewhat naive but never unintelligent 13-year-old eyes. Satterthwait does a terrific job in characterization, description, plot and dialog. What an engaging book and a most interesting ending!
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2001
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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