My Men (Hardback)

The intense, progressively feverish quality of the novel is far closer to the visceral interiority of Clarice Lispector or Jean Rhys than anything by Jo Nesbø or Stieg Larsson... A singular novel of unusual power from a fearless and remarkable writer This fascinating, off-kilter novel about a female serial killer is an unexpectedly thrilling read An extraordinary, visceral fictionalisation of Belle's life... Belle's story is not one of a police procedural or thriller... The prose flies and flays, is porous and illuminating An extraordinary portrait of the inner turmoil and ecstasy of the woman widely regarded to be America's first female serial killer My Men, superbly translated by Damion Searls, is a portrait of a woman trying, and failing, to escape her punishing trajectory. Bit by bit, day by day, we see, and come to understand, what has made Belle Gunness a killer A stylistic tour de force, a third-person account of Belle Gunness's grotesque odyssey as perceived through her own sensorium... A gifted writer Her spiritual yearning and profane desires are captured in dynamic and subversive prose as Kielland explores how Belle's homicidal tendencies derive from a perverted sense of love. It's an impressive feat of historical imagination Lyrical... Despite the subject matter, this novel is not your typical thriller. The language, in Searls' translation, is dense, poetic, and deeply figurative One of the best young authors we have... Kielland makes Brynhild tragic rather than cold-blooded Gripping, unique, and amazingly well-written Unusual and extraordinary What this rich and poignant novel does is try to get as deep as possible to the core of a person who struggles with what she is doing to the world and to herself. My Men is a literary achievement of the highest order