My Men

‘My Men’ tells the (fictionalized) true story of Belle Gunness - a prolific serial killer targeting men. This is a surprising feminist story - Belle targets men as an outlet for the patriarchy, the society that destroyed her life - and brilliantly chronicles her descent into madness. Kielland manages to bring empathy to what could have been a shlocky true crime read and instead charts Belle’s turn from victim to victimizer into a moving portrait of alienation.

If you are looking for a novel about a broken woman going on a murderous rampage, this isn't the book for you. This is a poetic, heartbreaking novel about a woman, Belle, who has endured a brutal act of misogynistic violence, and emigrates from Norway to America to start a new life. Once there, she continues her quest for unconditional love, only to find that no one fulfills her entirely realistic expectations.

Belle Gunness was a real person, who murdered 14 people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Victoria Kielland (and translator Damion Searles) have created a realistic and bleak portrait of a woman driven to extremes by her dissatisfaction with a cruel, sexist world. I was surprised how much I empathized with Belle; her struggles with feckless men unfortunately continue to resonate over 100 years later.

This is a quick read; the pace and structure makes for a perfect one-sitting read. There are parts that are grizzly, and the final paragraph is truly devastating, but this is mostly about a woman with mental health issues and no support. I’ll be thinking about Belle for a long time.

My Men *almost* made me feel bad for Belle Gunness! It's a stream of consciousness style writing, I appreciated looking at the era in which Belle Gunness lived.

This is a jarring and crisp thriller. Perfect length for a casual few day read. I loved the translation by Damion Searls (who also translated Septology by Jon Fosse).

I really enjoyed Victoria Kielland's book, My Men. I was slightly thrown off because this wasn't a page-turning story about a badass feminist seeking revenge on men like the plot synopsis initially led me to believe. Expectations adjusted, I quickly grew to appreciate the bleak, more contemplative format of the book. Brynhild Størset/Belle Gunness isn't exactly likeable (she killed 14 people, after all), but we see the reasons why she emigrated from Norway to the United States and watch as she turns that pain into, well, murder. Overall, I was glad this was such a contemplative but quick novel.

My Men by Victoria Kielland is translated from the Norwegian and is based on the true story of a female serial killer named Brynhild Gunness.

In 1876, seventeen-year-old Brynhild fell in love with a wealthy older man. When Brynhild learns how cruel and abusive he is, she moves to America to join her sister as a maid. There, she changes her name to Bella (later Belle) and eventually falls in love again.

But life is far from easy for Bella. One day she’s in a happy marriage, and the next, she’s plotting how to lure men to their death.

The writing style is unusual, slightly disjointed and very literary leaning. The writing is a little hazy towards the end. Most of the book has a melancholic feel to it.

While reading this, I wondered if the plot would even get to the killings or if it would end just as she begins. It eventually got there, just not until the last 25% of the book. Since the book is fairly short, it didn’t take up very many pages.

I liked how the author handled Belle’s character. In the beginning, Belle is clearly very young and hopeful for love, and her character changes as she experiences hardships. But there are no distinct personality changes between serial killer Belle and pre-serial killer Belle. She seems like the same woman, except now she’s killing lonely men one at a time while looking after her family.

I’m not big on true crime, but this fictional account based on a true story seemed intriguing, and I don’t regret reading it.

I’d recommend this if you enjoy dark, translated literary fiction.

Thank you to Astra House for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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The novel, translated from the Norwegian, is based on a true story - one of America's first female serial killers, a Norwegian woman. It is no true-crime reporting, not your typical thriller, but rather it reads nearly like a stream of consciousness, but not quite, a fever dream all from Bryhild's - later she changes her name to Belle once in America - POV. At 17, working as a servant for a wealthy Norwegian family, she falls madly in love with one of the family's men, illicit love in her attic bedroom, a pregnancy, a terrible act of violence, and Bryhild makes her way to the Midwest, where her sister Nellie is living. The language is intense, physical, emotional. Belle is a tragic and sympathetic character despite her actions. She is a woman who lives on a different mental and emotional planet, feeling things so deeply, stuck in a deep and unremitting loneliness, no matter the man she marries, the children they adopt. Female desire, loneliness, mental illness, Bryhild-Belle's story, told in poetic and lyrical language.

Thanks to Astra House and NetGalley for an ARC.

A unique reading experience. The prose is poetic, dreamy, and dark. Meanings are opaque but stylistic. I felt some spots were a bit too clouded — maybe the translation?

However, the perspective was the draw here of a female serial killer. I loved the hypnotic sense of descent into madness and desire, and it was a refreshing take on the horror/true crime genre in literature. I only wish there were a few more solid “answers” to rest on, but can respect the open endedness of the motives, especially considering it is a true story reimagined.

A book about a female serial killer written in a poetic haunting style..I was drawn in from the first pages so unique so involving.#netgalley #astra