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My Men by Victoria Kielland: A Reading Group Guide

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Praise for My Men by Victoria Kielland

  • New York Times Best Crime Novel of 2023
  • 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 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
  • “Kielland’s 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.

More about author 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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