Lizzie Borden Society Forum

In the Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, NY) newspaper of June 11, 1893 a column titled "A New Bedford Sunday" it describes Lizzie as:

" .... in her prison quarters scenting the aroma of the magnolias, perhaps, but enjoying nothing but her hope of eventual freedom and the book that [she] was reading. In that book she follows the quiet and lovely life of Agnes and the guilty happiness of Little Emily, so soon to end in death."

Does anyone have any idea of what book that would be? Just curious.

Isn't it David Copperfield???

Bingo Auds!!! You get a gold star.

Now I remember a little of it. Emily was the fisherman's daughter who ran away.

The name Agnes didn't ring a bell but a web site says that was Copperfield's wife's name. It's been a LONG time since I read that. I remember the movie more than the book.

Now that the context is known, (Thanks you guys!), maybe that snippet in the paper was meant as an allegory and not really what Lizzie was reading at all...just the reporter predicting the future in a round-about way?

I have read somewhere that she actually was reading this book during her
incarceration. I'm looking up the source for this memory and I'll get back to you if I find it.

I'm wondering about an allegorical slant, too. I'm pretty sure Agnes and Emily were both around at the end of David Copperfield so I don't see how "so soon to end in death" refers to them.