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 madness.
A short, sharp shock of a book ... Kielland is less interested in trying to explain causes and effects than in conveying what it might have felt like to be Brynhild – to live in her head and under her skin ... It’s not an easy read nor a comfortable one, and it can be exhausting to be in Belle’s head ... Still, none of this undermines the raw edge of My Men, a singular novel of unusual power from a fearless and remarkable writer.
Kielland generally adheres to the arc of Gunness’ real life, springing from it to illustrate what an obsession can do to a person ... Kielland astonishes through an impressive ability to convey how choices compound and become unbearable to one’s inner life — abetted by Damion Searls’ painstakingly careful translation.
