I’ve had this on my TBR list ever since Zeezee talked about it… all the way back in 2021! Luckily, she continued to talk about it even after so it’s always been on my radar, it was just a matter of finding a copy.

In the Garden of Spite is a fictional account of a real serial killer – Belle Gunness, née Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth. The book traces her story from her roots in Norway to her days on an American farm, where she lures and gets rid of greedy men.

As you can guess by the subject matter, this is a dark book. Initially, Belle’s actions had some logic to them, but she increasingly grows attracted to the act of killing herself, perhaps spurred by the anger that she is unable to put down. This is not a likeable protagonist, this is a woman who is raging against the world in the most destructive way she knows.

The counter Belle, we have her sister Nellie. Nellie loves Belle as much as she can, but a part of her cannot understand why her sister acts the way she does and the chasm between them hurts her. And it’s Nellie’s sisterly love – or perhaps weakness – that allows Belle to act out in worse and worse ways. As she tells us, Belle always had a hardness in her, even as a child in Norway. But Nellie’s account also poses a question to the reader: was Belle destined to be a serial killer? Or was it circumstance, that Nellie could accept but Belle couldn’t that led her down this path?

Dark and fascinating, this story had me glued to the pages. Given that it’s based on a woman who had existed, it’s easy to mistake it for true crime. But as Bruce herself writes, this is a fiction and I think it’s meant to illuminate the possible state of mind that someone like Belle could have, rather than give us a non-fiction account of what actually happened.

If you feel like reading something dark, moody, and disturbing, this may be the book for you.