Publication Date: January 19, 2021
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 480
Genre: Historical Fiction; Horror
Content Warning: Storygraph list here
Rating: 5/5
All I knew going into this story was that it was about a woman who had been wronged who is either getting revenge or trying to get her power back set sometime in the past based on the dress the woman is wearing on the cover. And when the book started with Belle (this is the name she chose later upon coming to America but I can’t remember what her original name was) as a pregnant 16(ish) serving girl in Norway who got caught up with the rich son I had a lot of empathy for her. Which made this such a bizarre reading experience and has taught me the value of reading the synopsis because I had no idea this was about the serial killer Belle Gunness.
Belle Gunness was a prolific serial killer in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s who killed at least a dozen people but probably more. And In the Garden of Spite is a nearly 500 page book following her life and we also get the perspective of her sister. I actually ended up giving this book five stars because I think Bruce did a great job of showing exactly who Belle was and her insane motivations. At the same time she was able to use her sister to show how far loved ones can go to excuse and look the other way when they suspect things.
This is a true horror story made even worse by the knowledge that it’s real. The further the story goes on the more Belle starts to unravel and it is very strange to be in her head for all of it. She doesn’t feel bad about what she is doing and is always able to justify her actions but you know what she is doing is horrible. And it’s not just the murders because she slowly builds up to that. Belle’s main motivation is money and loves to plan freak accidents to get insurance money. Her other motivation seems to be people fawning over her so she uses “adopting” babies and poison to get that attention. And this book does describe a lot of this stuff in detail which is already hard to read beyond it being a true story.
Like I mentioned above I picked this book up because I thought it was feminist rage story and I think parts of it still are. The way Belle was treated, especially as a child, was horrible and early on a lot of her motivations make sense. But Belle seemed to feast on the empowerment and being a sociopath she didn’t care that what she was doing was wrong. I also feel like Bruce could have easily made this story be all about Belle but she did a wonderful job making the victims come to life and gave a voice to many of them. Which also served to make their deaths more heartfelt especially since once I grasped who this story was about (I have actually watched a true crime video on her before) I knew what was coming.
I do have to point out how ridiculous it is that I didn’t know this was a serial killer story because I feel like the cover screams that it is. But I guess I was just focused on it being written by Camilla Bruce that I overlooked all the obvious clues. But if you are interested in true crime and can handle all the horrific details than I do recommend this book. I am a huge fan of Bruce’s writing and I appreciate that she tried to give a voice to not only Belle but to her victims and their families.
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