No man would stand in her way of achieving that lifestyle and as the disappearances of more and more men accumulated, she became a notorious female serial killer of the likes never seen before. But guess what: Little Brynhild (her birth name) changes her name as Belle as soon as she takes her first steps to the new continent. Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing this outstanding ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions. I would like to thank both Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Camilla Bruce hasn’t just included factually correct events but has attempted to intriguingly understand who Belle actually was and why she did what she did, regardless of her twisted and deadly justifications.

Triflers Need Not Apply: Be frightened of her. Secretly root

She was evil, mean, manipulative and a lying cow and I was glad to see the back of her at the end of the book. The author shows how her rage against men builds (with some justification) and her calculating mind develops and she marries for what she can gain. I loved her debut, You Let Me In, SO much, and I knew I would want to read whatever she put out next. And then she'd do something completely horrid and turn my stomach and I'd have to set my Kindle down and hold my babies super tight because. Ultimately, In the Garden of Spite is an intensely compulsive read, comprising a sharp concoction of historical fiction, psychological thriller, and of course, horror.And through it all her kind, older sister Nellie can only watch in horror as Bella's schemes to enrich herself and cut down the male population come to a glorious, dreadful fruition . Perhaps the most frightening aspect of her character is how she feels justified in being the monster, rationalizing her degeneracy and why she must do what she does.

Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce | Goodreads Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce | Goodreads

I wouldn't have edited anything out, particularly because this was an exploration into how Bella became who she was.Author Camilla Bruce took liberties adding a fiction storyline to go along with some of the true facts surrounding Belle's life and it was a chilling, delicious dive into how Belle went about planning, plotting along with her male friend to lure and ultimately murder for gain these unsuspecting men who were promised love and comfort in the arms of a lonely widow. I also thought the book could have ended a bit sooner - after too-numerous-to-count murders, it started to get almost tedious. Because this is a bit of a departure- as I believe horror or true crime is morphing a bit when it crosses women's easy read fiction. Naively believing her lover will do right by her and marry her, he rejects her and with her declarations to the local folks of her baby being fathered by the farmer's son, her lover lures her to a secret meeting and savagely beats her leaving her for dead. This is a well written novel, in places it’s vivid, the style is appropriate to the historical time period and it strikes the right tone.

Triflers Need Not Apply Triflers Need Not Apply

Born Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth, we read about her upbringing in Norway and the events that led to her becoming a ruthless murderer.There was too much unnecessary detail about the minutiae of the lives of all the characters - their clothing, what they ate, irrelevant discussions and so on. This sarcastic memoir of a millennial’s dating life is explores the paradoxes and paradigm changes of dating from the dawn of the internet age to today, and celebrates acknowledging the absurdity of modern courtship. Belle was a prolific killer- dubbed "The Black Widow of La Porte, Indiana"- using men to achieve, and further, her financial comfort. Belle wasn’t the most prolific female serial killer out there-apparently- but she was likely responsible for more deaths than can be proven.

Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce | Waterstones

Bella learns very early on that while the poor tend to suffer horrendously, women can get a particularly raw deal. I kept waiting for the "real" plot to happen and that took away from the experience of reading the characters' life stories. The problem is not that she wanted to have lots of children, it is that she has no brains to talk about other things in life other than marriage, money and kids so, she became the most boring woman on Earth! The almost 6 hours I listened to the book she and her sister talk about motherhood and, if not, marriage and/or money. She is also ruthlessly persistent; once she puts her mind to a goal, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop her from achieving it.

Yes, there were a lot of embellishments, but a lot of it was rooted in fact too, integrating what is known about Belle Gunness and her heinous crimes.