Adeline
3.75 stars
Historical literary fiction translated from Norwegian, it follows the real life figure of Belle Gunness, a young woman who immigrated from Norway to the US at the end of the 19th century, and later known as the first female serial killer in the country.
How do you write the slow decay of the mind ? I feel the writing style in this was a perfect example, a frenzied stream of consciousness capturing the mental illness of the character, her depravity. The author painted her character’s words and feelings like a fever dream, with chaotic flashes of emotional, religious, violent and sexual ecstasy.
However this wasn’t a simple retelling of the murders perpetrated by Belle Gunness, with a classic narrative arc. It was more a hyper focused look on her psyche, so for me it ended up too static, dense and one tone story, too redundant and abstract. Another point of view, more outside context (like her supposed insurance frauds) or more excerpts of historical documents would have made it more interesting and dynamic read for me.
An unsettling little book with a lush prose but ultimately not compelling enough for me, overall this was mixed reading experience.
3.75 stars
Historical literary fiction translated from Norwegian, it follows the real life figure of Belle Gunness, a young woman who immigrated from Norway to the US at the end of the 19th century, and later known as the first female serial killer in the country.
How do you write the slow decay of the mind ? I feel the writing style in this was a perfect example, a frenzied stream of consciousness capturing the mental illness of the character, her depravity. The author painted her character’s words and feelings like a fever dream, with chaotic flashes of emotional, religious, violent and sexual ecstasy.
However this wasn’t a simple retelling of the murders perpetrated by Belle Gunness, with a classic narrative arc. It was more a hyper focused look on her psyche, so for me it ended up too static, dense and one tone story, too redundant and abstract. Another point of view, more outside context (like her supposed insurance frauds) or more excerpts of historical documents would have made it more interesting and dynamic read for me.
An unsettling little book with a lush prose but ultimately not compelling enough for me, overall this was mixed reading experience.