My Men: A Novel

A New York Times Best Crime Novel of 2023 A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery Book of 2023 "An eerily lyrical tour de force . . . [A] horrific, sustained portrait of a traumatized human soul." Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal "Kielland plumbs Belles inner life through jaggedly rhythmic prose, where what should be obvious is sometimes opaque and whats 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 Knausgrd, author of My Struggle and The Morning Star "Kiellands dense, lyrical novel offers both insight and opacity . . . Despite the subject matter, this novel is not your typical thriller. The language, in Searls translation, is dense, poetic, and deeply figurative." Kirkus Reviews 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 Strset 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 Americas first known female serial killer. In pursuit of her American Dream, Kiellands 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.