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Publisher Description
A New York Times Best Crime Novel of 2023
A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of 2023
A CrimeReads Best Historical Fiction and International Crime Novel of 2023
A Best Book of 2023 - Chicago Review of Books and Marie Claire
"An eerily lyrical tour de force . . . [A] horrific, sustained portrait of a traumatized human soul." —Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
"Kielland plumbs Belle’s inner life through jaggedly rhythmic prose, where what should be obvious is sometimes opaque and what’s often shrouded — female rage — takes center stage."
—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times
"This fascinating, off-kilter novel about a female serial killer is an unexpectedly thrilling read.”
—Karl Ove Knausgård, author of My Struggle and The Morning Star
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.
A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of 2023
A CrimeReads Best Historical Fiction and International Crime Novel of 2023
A Best Book of 2023 - Chicago Review of Books and Marie Claire
"An eerily lyrical tour de force . . . [A] horrific, sustained portrait of a traumatized human soul." —Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
"Kielland plumbs Belle’s inner life through jaggedly rhythmic prose, where what should be obvious is sometimes opaque and what’s often shrouded — female rage — takes center stage."
—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times
"This fascinating, off-kilter novel about a female serial killer is an unexpectedly thrilling read.”
—Karl Ove Knausgård, author of My Struggle and The Morning Star
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.
18 Reviews
2.5
athena
Created 2 days agoShare
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Multi-layered charactersDescriptive writingDark settingDarkAbuseViolenceUnengaging charactersUnsatisfying plot
Charle Bachmann
Created about 1 month agoShare
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Clara Louden
Created about 2 months agoShare
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“I would have liked to read this in the original Norwegian- there were some stunning sentences, but overall it made me #sad”
Juanks04
Created 3 months agoShare
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“Meh”
Stina Jonsson-Schleeh
Created 4 months agoShare
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“Första 2/3 svinsnyggt introspektiv, köttig, klaustrofobisk. Sista tredjedelen var WELL THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY och sen var det slut.”
About Victoria Kielland
Victoria Kielland’s first book, the 2013 short prose collection I Lyngen (In the Heather) was shortlisted for the Tarjei Vesaas debutant prize. In 2016, Kielland’s first novel Dammyr (Marsh Pond) was shortlisted for the Youth Critics’ Prize and the literary committee of the Norwegian Authors’ Union awarded her the Norwegian Booksellers’ primary writer’s scholarship. My Men is her breakthrough novel, published to rave reviews in Norway in 2021, as well as a huge international success with more foreign sales.
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