BOOK GROUP: See What I Have Done

By Sarah Schmidt

Date: Wednesday, September 14th
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Fishers Island Library

In this riveting debut novel, See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt recasts one of the most fascinating murder cases of all time into an intimate story of a volatile household and a family devoid of love.

On the morning of August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden calls out to her maid: Someone’s killed Father. The brutal ax-murder of Andrew and Abby Borden in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts, leaves little evidence and many unanswered questions. While neighbors struggle to understand why anyone would want to harm the respected Bordens, those close to the family have a different tale to tell—of a father with an explosive temper; a spiteful stepmother; and two spinster sisters, with a bond even stronger than blood, desperate for their independence.

As the police search for clues, Emma comforts an increasingly distraught Lizzie whose memories of that morning flash in scattered fragments. Had she been in the barn or the pear arbor to escape the stifling heat of the house? When did she last speak to her stepmother? Were they really gone and would everything be better now? Shifting among the perspectives of the unreliable Lizzie, her older sister Emma, the housemaid Bridget, and the enigmatic stranger Benjamin, the events of that fateful day are slowly revealed through a high-wire feat of storytelling.

Please email Abby McCall on [email protected] with any questions or to be added to the Book Club email list.

For those of you who prefer e-books please avail yourselves of the Library’s app on their website.

Please invite friends who might also be interested. The more readers the better and so many people are unable to join on any given night that I don’t think we can have too many people. There are lots of book lovers on the island and it’s really nice to bring the group together. Please feel free to forward this to anyone else you can think of. All are welcome.

We select the book for the following month at the preceding meeting.

As in the past, feel free to bring your own beverage and, if you feel like it, a hors d’oeuvres to share with the group. I don’t want anyone to feel that they have to show up bearing food but for those who enjoy cooking we’d love it if you bring something to nibble on!

Please feel free to get back to me if you have any questions. I look forward to the Library Book Group and hope you do as well.

Best wishes,

Abby McCall
[email protected]

SimplyE app
It allows one (one may need a NYS address) to become a member of the New York Library system and borrow digital and audiobooks for free.

Contact Librarian Ann Banks with Library questions [email protected].