It’s been a while since we’ve had an update and many things have fallen into place recently.  The big news, of course, is that Maplecroft has been sold to the owners of the Second Street Bed and Breakfast Museum and will probably be open early this Spring. This is exciting for many who have wanted to see inside Lizzie’s home after the acquittal and the place where she passed away in 1927.

http://www.heraldnews.com/news/20180202/maplecroft-officially-sold-to-owners-of-lizzie-borden-bampb

LIZZIE, the upcoming film with Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart was sold at Sundance and is to debut on the big screen sometime this summer.  August 4th would be a good date! There’s a lot to Google about the film including mixed reviews. A good many liberties have been taken with the history of the case but it should find an appreciative audience.

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/01/chloe-sevigny-lizzie-sundance-interview-1201921269/

Kristen Stewart as Bridget Sullivan

A new Lizzie play is previewing March 1st in Ontario at The Black Door.

https://www.southwesternontario.ca/whatson-story/8139316-black-door-theatre-presents-lizzie-borden-of-fall-river-/

Also in March, the Travel Channel will present a documentary by the British production company ICON which will travel all around Lizzie country: Taunton, Swansea, New Bedford and of course Fall River and the house on Second Street. No air date known at this time. Stay tuned.  Looks like a very Lizzie summer ahead.

Nothing new to report on the sale of Maplecroft.  The price was recently lowered but no takers so far. It’s never looked better, inside and out!

Seems like we’ve been waiting forever for the upcoming Lizzie film.  Here’s what Fall River Development News has to say.

“The city of Fall River will be receiving worldwide attention soon with the release of the Hollywood film Lizzie. The new film will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018. Lizzie is a biographical thriller film directed by Craig William Macneill and written by Bryce Kass. The film is based on the true story of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and acquitted of the ax-murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, in 1892. The film stars Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jay Huguley, Fiona Shaw, Jamey Sheridan, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare, and Jeff Perry.

Looking for a stocking stuffer for Lizziephiles?  Can’t go wrong with these two recent releases!

There is cause for rejoicing in Lizzieland!  Sarah Miller’s upcoming book, Lizzie Borden & The Trial of the Century is a winner.  Aimed at the young adult demographic, this is a page-turner for anyone wanting to get the facts on the infamous Borden double homicide of 1892.

Miller has an appealing you-are-there style which engages the reader from the start, but best of all, this is a work based on the source documents in the case without all the speculations, theories, rumors and misinformed myths which mislead and muddy the case .

Thoughtfully organized by chapter from the events of August 4^th through the inquest, preliminary, trial and aftermath, this is a sensible read which enlightens and frankly,  – entertains.  The text is studded with inserts of useful knowledge set off in gray which provide useful background information on everything from the jury, Lizzie’s dresses to places and people.  These enrichments, along with a Who’s Who of all the important players in the story help to expand the reader’s  understanding of the finer points of the case.

The author’s aim to create a balanced view of the case, along with painting a truer picture of Lizzie as a real human being, not an axe-wielding caricature, as so often portrayed , has been amply realized.  It’s refreshing to see Lizzie in a neutral light while considering the possibility that she may have been innocent. This is a thinkers’ book which engages the reader from the very  first page and kicks those little gray cells into overdrive.

A cold winter ‘s night, a cup of hot cocoa and Miller’s, Lizzie Borden  & The Trial of the Century- nothing could be better for the true crime reader.  Just be warned, it will be a long night as you will not want to put this one down!

https://picasaweb.google.com/109993181558388557388/SlideAlbumMaplecroft