The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Writings

The first and only comprehensive collection of writings by Elizabeth Garver Jordan, the groundbreaking journalist, suffragist, and editor whose fearless reporting on women preceded the #MeToo movement and popularized the true-crime genre

A Penguin Classic

The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Writings is the first to collect Garver Jordan’s fiction and journalism, much of which has been out of print for over a century. Jordan began her career as a reporter, making her name as one of few women journalists to cover the Lizzie Borden murder trial for the New York World in 1893. Jordan’s distinctive, narrative-driven coverage of the Borden and other high-profile murder cases brought her national visibility, and she turned increasingly to fiction writing. Drawing on her experiences as a true-crime reporter and newspaper editor, she published detective novels and short story collections such as Tales of the City Room that explored the fine line between women’s criminality and crimes against women. Employing popular genre conventions as a means of dealing with women’s issues, Jordan exposed gendered abuse in the workplace and the prevalence of sexual violence. The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Writings encourages readers to draw a historical trajectory from Jordan’s pioneering literary activism to the writings of contemporary journalists and novelists whose work continues to fuel discussions of gender, feminism, and crime, raising questions about who gets to tell women’s stories, especially in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Elizabeth Garver Jordan (1865-1947) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After getting her journalism start at New York World in 1890, she went on to cover the Lizzie Borden trial in 1893, published her first collection of short stories in 1898, was the editor of Harper’s Bazaar for 13 years, and campaigned for the women’s suffrage movement. Jane Carr (co-editor) is a writer, editor, and scholar. She is currently the social and cultural commentary editor for CNN Digital. Lori Harrison-Kahan (co-editor) is Professor of English at Boston College. She has given public talks at venues such as the Library of Congress and the 92nd Street Y.