From the title this book sounded like a Gothic romance on an estate. When I started it I realized it was *that* Maplecroft, where Lizzie Borden lived. There were some really interesting ideas in the book. Like The Lie Tree, it combines 19th century science with folklore. There's a suggestion of a sort of sea goddess and fairy followers (and a professor at Miskatonic U!), with the traditional aversion to iron being connected to tetanus. This epidemic or conquering of Fall River the town is intriguing. The sisters' relationship is interesting. And Nance was also interesting in that she's the person with the spunky YA heroine personality, and it really just causes trouble for everyone and makes her a nuisance for everybody but Lizzie who gets to have sex with her.

Then there's the separate question: why Lizzie Borden? I've read a lot about that subject, so I was sensitive to any connection to it, and I felt like the story might have been better if the author had just created her own characters who had the interesting dynamic that Emma, Lizzie and Nance have in the book. Because for me, the actual story of Lizzie Borden is always going to be more interesting. There's a reason people have debated and thought about the events of that August morning for over 100 years. The idea that Lizzie was guilty, but killed her parents with an iron axe because they were turning into monsters is just not as interesting than wondering about what completely human drama happened that day. The relationship between the girls and their parents is basically nonexistent in the book. The author throws in later embellishments to the story, like Andrew Borden having an illegitimate son, but none of it's relevant so I wonder why it's even there, you know?

That also made me do things like go off on tangents like wondering why she was called Lizbeth? That is, it made sense that the doctor and Nance would call her Lizbeth because that's what she changed her name to after the murders. In the book no one ever mentions that it isn't her real name, though she does make a point of declaring that Elizabeth was never her name. My question, though, was if in this timeline Lizzie was trying to save the town and that's why she moved into this new house etc., why would she bother to change her name? It just didn't quite fit her character naturally to me.

Basically, I can't help but read any Lizzie Borden book as a theory, and while the Lovecraftian horror is an intriguing plot, it's not going to be my favorite theory!