My Men

by Victoria Kielland

Based on the true story of Norwegian maid Belle Gunness, 19th-century America’s most notorious serial killer with a body count of at least 14 men. My Men is a fictional account of one broken woman's descent into inescapable madness.

My Men is a harrowing read about an enigmatic historical figure: Brynhilde Belle Gunness, a Norwegian servant girl turned serial killer after emigrating to America in the wake of a hopeless love affair at home. She thought she was following her sister to a better life, but what she found in America was a society ruled by the same rigid moral codes that oppressed her at home. Consumed by desire, and thirsty for the love and recognition she never received during her impoverished formative years, Belle seeks revenge on the world that broke her. As Belle racks up a body count of at least 14 men, she grows increasingly alienated, ruthless, and—perversely—compelling.

Kielland writes urgently and thoughtfully about a broken person, one who yearns for liberation from the trappings of her class, gender, and traumatic past. My Men is a powerful and intense read, where the turn to violence is barely noticeable, but when it happens, there is no coming back.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Historical, Crime, Horror

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Victoria Kielland, født 1985, opprinnelig fra Fredrikstad, bor i Oslo. Hun er en av initiativtakerne til skrivekollektivet A.K.R.O.N.Y.M.

Reviews

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

In 1876, Norway, seventeen-year-old Brynhild Storset is embroiled in an affair with a man who leaves her after she gets pregnant and ends the affair in a vicious act of violence. She eventually emigrates to America joining her sister, Nellie, in the Midwest takes up work as a maid and seamstress. She changes her name to Bella (later Belle) and strives to begin a new life. However, her past haunts her and she is consumed by guilt and shame and an inherent mistrust of those around her. Belle gets a fresh start, marrying a man who loves her, and taking in abandoned children, thereby fulfilling her desire for love and family. However, Belle’s life is not one of happily ever afters but one of disillusionment and anger towards a world that fails to evoke any feeling of belongingness within her and as the narrative progresses we follow Belle as she embarks on a journey of violence, greed and crime.

I found the premise of My Men by Victoria Lielland (translated by Damion Searls) very interesting. A fictional account of the life of Belle Gunness, one of America’s most notorious serial killers, this is a short novel and a relatively quick read. The writing is dense and immersive with a melancholic, slightly sinister tone to it. Belle’s inner thoughts are written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style - disjointed, often collapsing upon each other, clearly indicating how she gradually becomes unhinged. It is difficult to fathom Belle’s motivations - a fact that keeps you hooked to the narrative. While I did enjoy the powerful writing, I had hoped that Belle’s life would have been covered in more detail. The narrative focuses more on Belle’s psyche rather than the actual incidents/crimes per se, some of which are revealed, some alluded to, and some glossed over toward the end of the novel. Do note that some descriptions are of a graphic (and gross) nature.

Many thanks to Astra Publishing House and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on June 27, 2023.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

https://booksandwheels.com

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Publisher Says: Based on the true story of Norwegian maid turned Midwestern farmwife Belle Gunness, the first female serial killer in American history. My Men is a fictional account of one broken woman's descent into inescapable madness.

Among thousands of other Norwegian immigrants seeking freedom, Brynhild Størset emigrated to the American Upper Midwest in the late nineteenth century, changing her name and her life. As Bella, later Belle Gunness, she came in search of not only fortune and true faith but, most of all, love.

From Victoria Kielland, a rising star of Norwegian literature, comes My Men, a literary reimagining of the harrowing true story of Belle Gunness, who slowly but irreversibly turned to senseless murder for release from her pain, becoming America’s first known female serial killer. In pursuit of her American Dream, Kielland’s Belle grows increasingly alienated, ruthless, and perversely compelling.

Raw, visceral, and altogether hypnotic, My Men is a brutal yet radically empathetic glimpse into the world of a woman consumed by desire.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: When a writer sets their talent to the task of fictionalizing evil, there are choices to make that will determine the level of suspension of disbelief the reader's being asked to invest. Is the evil inherent (readily believable), evoked (sympathetically believable), or situational (tough to justify or invest in)? Is the perpetrator the victim lashing out, taking power back, or simply looking to survive in hard conditions? All of these ask us, as readers, to put aside our judgments of the bad actor to some extent and to come to a fuller understanding of what really happened (in the cases where evil is factually based, as this one is).

I'll say that I understood Belle Gunness a lot differently after this read than before it.

A more-or-less stream of consciousness, loosely structured narrative style suits the apparent purpose of humanizing a murdering, remorseless killer of many people. What the author seems to want me to do is to think of Belle as a person, in hard circumstances, not as just a killing machine. That didn't happen. As I followed her increasingly disordered thoughts and feelings, as I saw what she saw and worked back from there to her probable outside stimulus, I felt sympathy drain away from me. This is the situationally evil character, one who just does what she (in this case) does because she can. This person was a killer who liked killing for the power it conferred on her. The inner thoughts of such a person, as ficionalized, left me thinking how very easy it seemed to be for her to untether her blunted, stunted moral sense from anything that was outside her own mind. I'd assumed Gunness was existentially threatened herself and then enacted that on others. Before this read, what I saw was a need to redress her powerless victim state. After, she came through these pages as a narcissistic bundle of insecurities with a grossly overblown sense of what the world owed her.

If, like me, you thought we'd get a retelling of the life Belle Gunness led that made her what she was, get that out of your head. We're inside Belle's mind, arguably a more interesting place to be. It's going to put some readers off, because it's 100% conjecture. You're not tethered to the facts of Belle's life. You're asked to put aside that readerly need. Your disbelief buys you, however, the strange and deeply interesting view of a murdering sociopath's thought processes.

I hope like hell someone at the publisher's end made more than a cursory check on the author's background because she's very, very good...chillingly good...at making this horrifying person's inner life accessible to a casual reader.

I don't think everyone will appreciate this read. I know I expected something other than what I got. I liked the actual book better than the one I thought I'd be reading in the end.

[Michał Michalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przez swą formę na pewno nie jest to książka łatwa ani dla każdego.

Ale to ta forma (TO TŁUMACZENIE!) doskonale oddające sposób myślenia osoby zaburzonej, jest też największą zaletą tej książki.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Partial insight to the life of a lonely woman who was seeking acceptance, seeking love. But a feeling of not belonging, being rejected, sees Belle turning more and more for guidance from God.

Sadly that does not materialise and the story reads like you’re in the exhausting mind of someone whose mental stability is crumbling towards a point of no return. Which is where we end up.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird one. Finding it hard to see the value in rewriting a real, apparently calculating and ruthless woman into someone who is primarily lonely, confused, and passive. I don’t need or want to sympathize with this woman. Not that I wouldn’t be up for a humanizing character study of a killer, but the facts Kielland chooses to change or omit here are obviously changed in service of making this character more palatable, and it’s not earned. The ambiguity is lazy, the writing is overwrought, and the repetition is boring. Belle Gunness’s real story is more disturbing, affecting, and mysterious—save yourself the time and just read the wiki page.

[Yahaira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don't know what I read

----------

-enter the psyche of a killer-

I thought this was going to be a thriller or Nordic noir. Totally my fault. Instead this is a dense, interior reimagining of a woman who would become a serial killer. This is like a fever dream, so much time passes within one paragraph that you may miss it. When you do get to the murders, they're almost treated as an aside -it's not about them.The last quarter has a totally different feel where the pacing speeds up to the brutal end.

[Natalia Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro escrito de una forma tan intensa y rebuscada que me costó acabarlo. Y es que este libro narra la vida real de Belle Gunness, una asesina en serie, pero no se limita a hacernos una crónica tal cual sino que la autora recubre su prosa de elementos más propios de la poesía y esto hace que la lectura fuera lenta y en ocasiones sin entender muy bien qué me quería contar.
Reconozco que no debe ser nada fácil esta forma de escribir pero a mi no me ha resultado sencillo batallar con ello.
Por otro lado la historia es muy truculenta (la real) pero en el libro queda bastante diluida porque todo parece contado con insinuaciones y de modo casi onírico, con los pensamientos perturbados de la protagonista de forma constante.
En resumen, libro nada sencillo de leer pero original.

[Monica Cabral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Em 1876 Brynhild Størset de 17 anos é dominada pelos seus desejos bem como pela vergonha induzida pela religião.
Quando engravida, um acto de violência extrema provoca-lhe um aborto espontâneo e a partir da data deste acontecimento,  Brynhild começa a sofrer alterações de comportamento e dissociação com a realidade.
Disposta a esquecer o seu passado decide ir ter com a irmã à América para aí começar a viver do zero e para isso adopta outro nome: Belle.
Este romance é a história ficcionada de Belle Gunness, uma serial killer, que é suspeita de ter matado cerca de 40 pessoas entre as quais,  maridos e filhos.
Quem espera um thriller tipicamente nórdico não pode estar mais enganado,  Victoria Kielland não está interessada em explicar cronologica e metodicamente cada morte, mas sim em transmitir como é viver na cabeça e sob a pele de Belle.
Embora esteja escrito na terceira pessoa,  Os Meus Homens,  lê-se como se fosse um monólogo desesperado. Não é uma leitura fácil nem confortável, pode ser cansativo entrarmos na cabeça da Belle e sabermos os seus pensamentos mais sórdidos e percebermos todo o seu sofrimento,  mas esta leitura torna-se numa importante meditação sobre o desejo feminino,  sobre a solidão e principalmente sobre a saúde mental.

[Paya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ostatnio dużo u mnie niewiarygodnych narratorek. Czasem trudniej za nimi podążać, czasem łatwiej. Za Belle szło mi się bardzo trudno. Gubiłam jej ślady, z trudem ją doganiałam, mówiła za dużo o ciele, które nie było moim ciałem, o odczuciach, które były ze sobą sprzeczne. To była bardzo wymagająca książka, która na początku mnie nie urzekła. Ale im dalej, tym więcej sensu widziałam w takim opowiadaniu historii. To najintymniejsza próba zbliżenia się do kogoś, do kogo zbliżyć się nie można. Mogłoby się wydawać, że przez to poznamy bohaterkę lepiej, ale wydaje mi się, że to świetny zabieg autorki. Widzimy wszystko z tak bliska, że trzeba się skupić, by zauważyć szerszy plan, tę większą historię, jakiś bardziej uproszczony portret całości i samej Belle. Tak naprawdę chyba powinnam wrócić do tej książki, przeczytać ją jeszcze raz, wszystko sobie wyłapać, połączyć więcej kropek. Na razie jednak zostanę z tym poczuciem niekomfortowej bliskości.

[Mewa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brynhild „została wyszarpnięta z historii jak człowiek pozbawiony pamięci, a dnie stawały się tylko ciemniejsze i krótsze". Uznawała, że „naprawdę nie było na tym świecie dość miłości dla wszystkich", a jednak wciąż pozwalała sobie na wchodzenie w kolejne romantyczne relacje. Dążyła do chwilowego poczucia bezpieczeństwa oraz zaspokojenia, a potem usilnie próbowała się uwolnić. Pragnęła jednego, by z upływem dni przestać odczuwać satysfakcję i szukać kolejnego. Z czasem na rzecz pieniędzy zupełnie zrezygnowała z miłości, a jej dusza zdawała się wyginać, kurczyć i pęcznieć. Wszystko zdawało się dążyć jedynie do zatracenia. Do niewygody i ucisku.

Belle Gunness, której to historię Victoria Kielland opisuje, uznawana jest za jedną z pierwszych seryjnych morderczyń. Kobieta najwyraźniej stała za śmiercią przynajmniej dwudziestu ośmiu mężczyzn, a autorka to właśnie do jej głowy postanowiła wejść. Zamiast jednak stworzyć portret okrutnej kobiety — opisała ją niczym zagubioną duszę, która miotała się w świecie. Która rozdział po rozdziale zyskiwała więcej mroku oraz smutku. Kielland w niestandardowej formie (pełnej ozdobników i uczuć w natężeniu, gdzie forma może już przytłoczyć treść) ukazała historię, jaka zamiast odpychać może wzbudzić współczucie. I jak zwykle nie jestem czegoś takiego zwolenniczką, tak tutaj ma to swój urok.

Nietypowa była to powieść, ale w swojej nietypowości zgrabna oraz ładna. Nieco przytłaczająca (najczęściej formą), ale potrafiącą wciągnąć. Zwykle unikam prozy bazującej na prawdziwych wydarzeniach, ale tym razem zależało mi, by jej skosztować i smakowała interesująco.

przekł. Karolina Drozdowska

[hopeforbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

„Moi mężczyźni” Victorii Kielland zapowiadali się wspaniale – fantazja literacka inspirowana prawdziwą historią pierwszej seryjnej morderczynii. Belle Gunness to amerykańska seryjna morderczyni norweskiego pochodzenia, która według wikipedii zamordowała około 28 mężczyzn.

Bardzo doceniam tę książkę za przybliżenie historii pierwszej seryjnej morderczyni (bo książek o mężczyznach jest już wystarczająco dużo), opis jej życia, próby oddania jej motywacji i pogłębienia portretu psychologicznego. To obraz kobiety złamanej, nieszczęśliwej. Do tego napisana jest przepięknym poetyckim językiem (ogromne brawa dla tłumaczki!).

Jednakże nie jestem usatysfakcjonowana lekturą, mam wrażenie, że można to było zrobić lepiej. Zakończenie (ostatnie ~ 30 stron) jest zbyt pospieszne w porównaniu do reszty książki. Cała książka jest powolna, tak żeby na koniec, gdy robi się najciekawiej, pędzić na łeb na szyję. Przez co czuję niedosyt, a motywacje bohaterki są dla mnie nieprzekonywujące. Poza tym – chaos. Książka jest bardzo chaotyczna, momentami ciężko połapać się o co chodzi. I jasne, można to wyjaśnić tym, że narracja oddaje chaos, gonitwę myśli w głowie bohaterki, tylko czemu autorka zdecydowała się na trzecioosobową narrację? Mam wrażenie, że pierwszoosobowa mogła wypaść tu znacznie lepiej 🤔

„Moi mężczyźni” to jak dla mnie niestety niewykorzystany potencjał. Myślałam, że to będzie petarda, ale nie jestem usatysfakcjonowana lekturą. Pomysł był interesujący, ale wykonanie mogło być lepsze.

2.5/5

[Tracey Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Andy Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billed as being based on the true story of one of America’s first female serial killers, this isn't actually about a serial killer, rather it is a meditation on passion, loneliness and mental instability.

In 1876, at the young age of 17 Brynhild Størset leaves Norway for the USA in disgrace, she has been pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. In the midwest she moves in with her sister, who is even more disapproving, and takes a new name, Belle. In an attempt to settle, amd keep a low profile, she concentrates on her position as a seamstress, and in the church. Longing for a relationship, and a child, she meets Mads Sørensen, who grows to love her. But paranoia builds in Belle, she cannot settle, and expects betrayal. Despite this they do marry, and have three young children before Mads dies suddenly, and with some suspicion attached.

But this isn't the dark sinsiter tale one might expect, rather the language used is figurative, poetic and bulky. Its a short novel, but I would have preferred it shorter.

My own problem is that I desparately want things like this to be bleak and disturbing, and tend to be disappointed if they are not.
This is a very different approach to a story that though it might be relatively unheard of in the UK, has been told many times in Scandinavia.

[Lea Thomsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

En väldigt bra men udda bok. Handlingen är helt och hållen skriven mellan raderna vilket gör boken mycket intressant att läsa. Den väcker reflektion och aktiverar hjärnan, hehe, så att man hela tiden är observant.

En väldigt bra story och dessutom med ett vackert språk. Skulle rekommendera 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Monika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dette kunne blitt noe så bra med Belle Gunness, men det ble bare fettrand meg her og fettrand meg der.

[makayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
don’t trust a man who says this isn’t a good book

[Álvaro Curia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vamos lá romantizar, justificar e procurar criar empatia com uma assassina que matou mais de 40 homens, os próprios filhos e os trabalhadores a seu cargo.

Enchemos tudo com uma escrita hiper poética, metáforas até à exaustão, usamos a antítese e damos assim umas quantas centenas de imagens encavalitadas em cada parágrafo e pronto.

Nope.

[Anne Marte Jordet Stensrud · Rating 2 out of 5]

Potensielt spennende historie om Brynhild/Belle sin skjebne. En ekte person som absolutt fortjener oppmerksomhet, til tross for, eller kanskje på grunn av, sine grusomme handlinger. Leseren får innsikt i Belles svært svingende tanker og følelser, slik at handlingene hennes får et mer nyansert lys - selv om dette lyset er hypotetisk gjendikting. Feministen Belle, tar jeg meg i å tenke gjennom Kiellands gjengivelse av hennes liv. Belle skildres med skjellsettende tapsopplevelser, sårbar, søkende og med en lettkrenket og følelsesstyrt personlighet, noe som blir en skummel kombinasjon.

Språklig er romanen leken og poetisk med metaforrike skildringer av hendelser, omgivelser, utseende, tanker og følelser. Romanen flakker sømløst fra det ene til det andre, og det er mye «showing», noe som inviterer leseren med inn i fortolkningen av hva som rent konkret skjer.

Likevel er det språket som, for meg, gjør at boka ikke vurderes høyere. Romanen er i overkant metafortung, på grensen til pompøs og klisjèfylt, og jeg opplever en utmattende distanse til karakterene og handlingen. En del av språkbildene er repetetive (eks. fettrand, å være på grensen mellom tilstander, at ting smelter og lyser).
Det er en del formelle språkfeil, særlig kommafeil (manglende etter konjunksjon som skiller to helsetninger), som forstyrrer leseopplevelsen. Forfattere bryr seg kanskje ikke videre om det i kunstens navn, men Solstad, Fosse og Loe bryter mer overbevisende med reglene som et bevisst virkemiddel. I «Mine menn» fremstår komma, og mangel på sådan, tilfeldig. Jeg blir ikke overbevist om at det er et gjennomtenkt og effektfullt virkemiddel her.
Enkelte uttrykk, som «maxet ut» kler ikke romanens tidskoloritt særlig godt, selv om vi er i USA, mulighetenes land.

[Las lecturas de Hanshichi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando Ana me propuso esta lectura hace varios meses, no lo dude un instante, asesina en serie, inmigrante, USA....todo me encajaba perfectamente. Incluso esta la mujer que inspiró el magistral personaje de Antonia Monterroso de Gellida.

Lo fácil era ir a lo más escabroso, gore y "montar" un thriller bi9gragico de esos que llaman la "atención" a todos los amantes del género.

Pero no, no es asi, la autora, con una prosa poética y lírica (por momentos compleja, hay que leerlo con tranquilidad) nos adentra poco a poco en la mente psicopática de esta mujer, sus delirios y pensamientos cada vez nos va haciendo conocerla más, sin sangre, ni gore, pero con mucha tensión, angustia y una lucha constante contra si misma, su instinto de supervivencia, delirio en contraste con su ideología religiosa.

Una novela corta, deliciosamente escrita, con una prosa maravillosa y sorprendente, con tranquilidad y calma disfrutaras de una magnífica lectura que te atrapa poco a poco y disfrutarás de ella enormemente.

No es un thriller, ni mucho menos, pero para los amantes del género, este paso "fuera de su zona de confort" no es "dramático", ni mucho menos, te adentrará en una mente perturbadora, delirante y en decadencia a cada página que pasas.

En mi opinión, muy recomendable

[endrju · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book and I did not really click though we should have as the book has all the right ingredients - (a bit of) non-linearity, impressionistic use of language, and death of cishet men. But alas, we quickly parted ways to never meet again since the third part felt rather rushed and the style changed inexplicably toward the end. So, the novel's okay, and perhaps on some other day we'd have been better companions, just not today.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book based on Belle Gunness, a prolific serial killer in Indiana, circa 1900's. Which seems like an interesting story, however, the writing was so stream of conscious, that I was just annoyed. Are we supposed to feel sorry for a woman who murdered at least 30 people? Or maybe because it was a bad translation? At least it was short.

[Ellis ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I miei uomini" di Victoria Kielland è un romanzo che ci porta nella psiche di Belle Gunness, la più sanguinaria serial killer d’America.
Il suo non è solo un nome che figura nei libri di cronaca nera, ma aleggia inquieto e inquietante per parlare di una donna che, seppur in maniera atipica, ha sfidato le convenzioni sociali.

Una biografia romanzata (forse troppo) che pone al lettore un implicito dilemma morale: Belle Gunness è anche una vittima o solo la carnefice?
L' autrice induce ad andare oltre il semplice pregiudizio, a portare lo sguardo sulla vita di una diciassettenne che viene irreparabilmente stravolta e che l'ha spezzata nel profondo.

Kielland ricostruisce la sua storia intrisa di dolore e furia, che trova nell'omicidio la sua unica via di rivalsa.
Un romanzo avvolgente, che si fa leggere con piacere... anche se decisamente troppo soft per i miei gusti visto che mi aspettavo un maggiore approfondimento sul suo lato oscuro e i crimini da lei commessi.

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

heavy, stream of conscious book loosely based on belle gunness sounded like something that I would love but unfortunately I found this too superficial and at times indecipherable in order to enjoy

[Atalántē]

Przerywam na 36%, nie wiem co się dzieje, co chwila muszę się cofać, bo to taka nuda, że odpływam myślami. Nie wrócę.

[Caitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

My Men by Victoria Kielland is a very polarising read based on a true story of one of America’s most notorious serial killers of the late 1800’s/early 1900’s.

We follow the main character Belle/Bella/Bryhnhilde (her name changes a couple times throughout her life) from her first traumatic experience with a man at the age of 17 in her home country before fleeing to America in hopes of a better life. In her constant chase for the love and affection she craves, a switch flicks inside Belle and the reader observes her descent into madness and pure fem rage. Something I really enjoyed about My Men was how subtle that shift is to the reader, it’s like you’re playing catch up because you don’t realise what has happened until the story has moved on. Belle feels broken and disappointed in the hand she’s been dealt which simmers into a monster inside her. Belle’s body count is debated upon but it was confirmed she murdered 14+ people, many of them men she had lured to her home from overseas.

In my opinion, you will either love or hate the writing style of My Men - think The Yellow Wallpaper but more disjointed. I think it was a great choice by the author to demonstrate how unhinged and erratic the main character is but it would definitely be a challenge for readers who haven’t read anything outside of typical contemporary fiction. The downside of the writing in my opinion was the pacing, there would be some passages which spanned over several months and I had no idea until I kept reading and wondered what was going on so it lost me a little in parts. Again, I know this was intentional but I did struggle with that aspect.

Ultimately, I know there is a particular niche of readers who would absolutely devour this book as there are others who probably won’t read the whole thing and that’s okay! It is definitely an acquired taste to follow the chaos but I really enjoyed it! I think it’s a really interesting concept and Victoria Kielland did a fantastic job of getting inside Belle.

My Men is set to be released on the 27th of June 2023 & if this review has piqued your interested I’d definitely check out! 📚

TW: other than obviously murder/violence, please be aware this book does contain pregnancy & MC.

[Gunnar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Belle, eigentlich Brynhild, Gunness war eine norwegisch-amerikanische Serienmörderin. Nachdem sie in die USA emigrierte, wird sie für den Tod von 20-40 Personen, hauptsächlich alleinstehende Männer, verantwortlich gemacht und wurde im Nachhinein als „Schwarze Witwe“ bezeichnet. Sie starb unter mysteriösen Umständen bei einem Hausbrand im Jahr 1908. Erst in der Brandruine wurde man durch Leichenfunde auf ihre Verbrechen aufmerksam.

Die Geschichte der Belle Gunness greift die norwegische Autorin Victoria Kielland in einem Roman „Meine Männer“ auf. Man sollte allerdings keinen True Crime-Roman erwarten, vielleicht war die Faktenlage dafür zu dünn, vermutlich war dies auch nicht Absicht der Autorin. Sie zielt vielmehr darauf ab, in die Hauptfigur Belle Gunness einzudringen und mögliche Ursachen der Ereignisse auszuloten. Obwohl sie in der dritten Person schreibt, liest es sich über weite Strecken wie ein Bewusstseinsstrom, auch auf Dialoge wird verzichtet.

Das Ganze macht den Roman schwierig lesbar. Die Sprache ist blumig, poetisch, unter Verwendung vieler Vergleiche, Metaphern und Allegorien. Das Geschehen bleibt vage, verschwommen, es gibt zahlreiche unklare Zeitsprünge. Die Morde tauchen erst spät in dem kurzen Roman auf und man überliest sie fast. Für mich war das nicht befriedigend, ich empfand die Vorgehensweise als artifiziell, zu gewollt. Ich habe mich gefragt, warum die Autorin einen wahren Fall aufgreift, wenn sie dann so fiktionalisiert und für meinen Geschmack überpoetisiert. Der Person Belle Gunness bin ich während der Lektüre nicht wirklich näher gekommen.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Astra House Books for my free copy of My Men by Victoria Kielland —available now!

(3.75/5, rounded up)
Translated by Damion Searls, this is my first experience w Norwegian lit. I’m a fan! Admittedly I struggled to settle into the intended rhythm, but with the help of reading in tandem w the audiobook—expertly narrated by Mia Barron—I quickly fell into the swing of things and was able to sit back & appreciate Victoria’s writing.

My favorite thing about My Men is how often I thought I’d skipped a paragraph or zoned out for a few seconds. This probably sounds strange, but if you’ve read Sugar by Mia Ballard or Boy Parts by Eliza Clark then you’ll know what I’m talking about. You stumble into violence effortlessly, left kinda confused how it got to this point. 0-100, yanno? But not in a way that feels out of place or too abrupt. It’s done beautifully—so beautifully that I’d lose sight of the direction I knew things would be heading again and again. Only to be quickly reminded what Belle was capable of if her American Dream is on the table.

As a reimagining of the Belle Gunness 🔪 spree, I hoped to be completely disgusted by her.
This went beyond what I expected from a retelling. In hindsight, I spent almost as much time empathizing with Belle as I did despising her. This story is an exploration of women’s objectification, misogyny, shame, desire and breaking points, just as much as it is a story of, well — murder.

Another buddy read w @womenvsthevoid and I’m glad we saw it thru together 🤓 Book #1 for me to add to her 25 Translated Books in 2025 challenge on The Storygraph 🌐

[Marika_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zbierałam się chwilę do napisania o niej posta. Bo z jednej strony sama historia (prawdziwa historia), na której oparta jest książka jest niezwykle inferesująca, z drugiej strony mam lekki niedosyt bo czułam, że można było więcej wycisnąć z opowieści o pierwszej seryjnej morderczyni. W dodatku czytało mi się to opornie, gubiłam się w historii, nie mogłam znaleźć punktu zaczepienia w bałaganie myśli i emocji bohaterki. A co ciekawe ten strumień świadomości pisany jest w trzeciej osobie.
Na pewno nie jest to typowa książka true crime, raczej wariacja na jej temat, bardzo poetycko napisana wariacja, i mimo, że było to dziwne doświadczenie czytelnicze i nie jestem w pełni usatysfakcjonowana, to właśnie dla samego odemiennego doświadczenia warto spróbować. Ach no i dla samej historii Brynhild oczywiście, choć warto uzupełnić sobie wiedzę o niej szperając w internecie. I ogromny plus dla autorki za to, że skupiła się na odpowiedzi na pytanie „co ci się przydarzyło, co spowodowało, że posunęłaś się do takich czynów?”, a nie na sensacyjnych smaczkach o morderczyni i jej sposobach na zabijanie.

[Marta Demianiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5⭐️ To jest jedna z tych książek, kiedy jednocześnie mnie zachwyca styl autorki i denerwuje tym, że czasami się gubię i nie do końca jestem w stanie zrozumieć, co czytam, co się dzieje w książce, co sobie wyobrazić. Zazwyczaj czuję się za głupia na taki styl, ale tu podobało mi się pióro autorki.