Second Draft of Outline

Second Outline – Sisterly Love



 Lizzie begins her story with a bit of family history –some of which is information she’s gotten from the matron of the Tauton jail (where she was held for almost nine months).

 Lizzie flips through a photo album talking about the pictures—of her mother, her sister Alice, pictures of she and Emma-some with their father, a picture of her stepmother, Abby, when she married Andrew Borden and pictures of her Uncle John.

 Lizzie talks about the only memory she has of her mother, growing up without one, and dealing with her new stepmother.

 Lizzie tells about life with Emma away at school and her horrible secret

 Then she talks about how home life changed when Emma came home and how Emma presented a meek, mild little mouse to the world.

 The story of the first major melee regarding Andrew giving Abby half interest in a house.

 An uncomfortable neutrality is formed, with palpable tension filling the house all the time

 Lizzie talks about her trip to Europe—her only time away—the only time she felt free and alive

 Lizzie returns home to an even more divided and dysfunctional family

 Lizzie also begins noticing that Emma isn’t nearly as passive and innocent as she appears to be to others.  She is also beginning to be aware of her sister’s manipulating ways.

 Skip ahead to the weeks preceding the murders.  Lizzie shows us an angry Emma—someone being consumed with jealousy and frustration.

 Lizzie sees Emma’s docile mask is cracking—at least when they are alone, and she is talking more and more about ‘taking care of the situation once and for all’.

 Lizzie has an uncomfortable feeling about home life that first week of August  of ’92 but she is worried about something completely different—she never expected murder.

 The day of the murders

 The aftermath

 The funeral

 The inquest

 Emma inherits the entire estate, but is happy to offer a reward for information leading to the ‘true’ murderer and to pay for Lizzie’s defense. 

 She cannot wrap her mind around the fact that it must have been someone familiar with the house and the people living there—even after she’s arrested and carted off to jail.

 Emma continues to tell her that ‘the madman’ who killed father will be found out and captured—that truth will out—to trust and believe in her.

 Lizzie is hearing things from Mrs. Wright, the matron of Tauton jail—who turns out to be an old neighbor

 With nothing but time on her hands, Lizzie begins to fit pieces together and they are leading in a direction she really doesn’t want to go.

 The trial

 The acquittal

 Emma splits the estate with Lizzie

 They move into the house on French Street, but Lizzie’s romantic and grand notions like changing her name to Lisbeth and naming the house Maplecroft are beginning to grate on Emma’s nerves

 Lizzie expects her life to be wonderful after being found ‘not guilty’ and moving up onto ‘the hill’

 Emma becomes more and more religious as it becomes quite clear that Lizzie—though officially innocent—has been found most guilty in the court of public opinion and is for all intents and purposes—shunned by society

 Even though Emma is so self-effacing Lizzie is becoming more and more uncertain about her sister

 Lizzie leaves Emma at home to pray and do ‘good works’ and goes to New York and Boston to shop and enjoy the theatre.

 Lizzie becomes friends with the famous actress, Nance O’Neil.  Nance is the first person that Lizzie knows that has no preconceived notion of Emma. 

 Nance, and a few others visit Maplecroft and Emma makes a ‘scene’

 Lizzie goes to see Nance in a play in Boston and over a late night supper, Nance tells her exactly what she thinks about the sanctimonious and ever suffering Emma.

 Lizzie goes home with an earful from Nance, and begins to see how Emma does try and control and manipulate her.

 Lizzie grows a backbone—and Emma isn’t happy.  The tension begins building between them and Emma is making veiled threats and comments that have Lizzie worrying more and more she is living with her father’s murderer

 There is a major blowup and the proverbial shit hits the fan

 An enraged Emma reveals everything—beginning with the murder of little Alice when Emma was only five—about how she managed the murders, manipulated the investigation, handled potential witnesses, Lizzie and her lawyers.  She also spits out with glee that she was responsible for Lizzie’s most awful secret—one Lizzie thinks is even worse than patricide.

 Lizzie throws Emma out of the house, stating she never wants to see her again.  She tells Emma that she should do the right thing for the right reason for once and write out a confession to be opened after her death.  Emma laughs at the notion.

 Lizzie tries to go on with her life, such as it is—but things have lost some of their shine.  She becomes more and more of a recluse.

 Her final years are troubled.  She prays for her sister’s soul, but has come to wonder if she shouldn’t tell everything she knows.

 But Emma is still her sister—and she can’t bring herself to betray her.

 When Lizzie dies—just nine days before Emma—she finds no peace—she has basically spent the last half of her life in Purgatory, and now, even in death nothing has changed.

 She decides to tell us her story

 Lizzie’s spirit is released, rises up from her grave and floats up over the town of Fall River—at last in peace.