In the Garden of Spite - Review

Author: Camilla Bruce

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Hardback

Pages: 480

I'm always a sucker for the True Crime genre. So I was pretty excited for In The Garden of Spite even though it is a fictional retelling of Belle Gunness and the crimes she committed. While I know who Gunness was, the things she'd done, I didn't know a lot about her in general. I've heard her story on true crime podcasts and shows. I think having that bare knowledge is what made this book enjoyable. Because I didn't really know where fact and fiction always collided, though I could guess from time to time.

Camilla Bruce had to have done so much research for this book and not just one Belle, but on the period itself. On what was going on not only in Chicago at the time, but the world. On the living conditions both here and in Norway. All of that shows throughout the whole book. Bruce really plunges you into the period, and while personally, I'm normally all about the characters, for a story like this I'm glad we got an immersive view on the period.

I also really loved the small mention of Homles and the Murder Hotel. 

Another great aspect of this book is the dueling points of view. We just watch as Belle Gunness turns into a serial killer. You also watch as her sister discovers the truth about her sister. Personally, I think that helps the story because if the whole book down through Belle's eyes I don't think I could finish it. Her monologuing would have done me in. But, because Belle and her sister, Nellie, are polar opposites it breaks the story up but allows it to continue to flow. Nellie is so content with her quiet and simple life. Grateful for the things she's worked for, and she still has dreams, but she is practical. Whereas Belle thinks she's owed something. Having both points of view really shapes the monster Belle is in a way that just one point of view wouldn't accomplish.

Nellie will always see Belle as her little sister, watching Nellie struggle really broke my heart. All she wanted was what was best for her sister. And, while I part of me wanted to feel bad for Belle, to her rough start in life. For this reason, she needed to come to America. You really lose feeling halfway through the book, when she finally has what she wants and you watch her throw it all away.

I think Bruce did a really good job with Belle because of that. You start feeling so bad for this girl, but that quickly fades that farther into the book you get. And not because Bruce just created a monster. She created a woman who had two faces: the one the world saw and the was all her. Never once did Bruce give platitudes about why Belle did what it did. No punches were held and I appreciated that as well. Belle Gunness was a terrible person, and Bruce writes her that way.

In the Garden of Spite is definitely a heavy book, even though there is very little violence in the book. Yes, Bruce doesn't spare details of what Belle did the men she killed, but there is no unneeded gore about it. Belle had a sad start to life, her sister goes through several miscarriages. This book is not for everyone there are a lot of trigger warnings for this book: domestic violence, miscarriages, child abuse, etc. So I would suggest doing a bit of research before jumping into this book if any of those things are triggers.

For those reasons, this wasn't a book I read quickly. I would read small stretches here and there, but the somber nature made it hard to read for long periods. The upside to that is with Bruce's writing style I never had any problems jumping back into the story. Bruce had described everyone and everything so well that it was easy to fall back into this story after a couple of days away.

I think my only issue with this book, and this probably all me, is after about the three hundred pages make the book start to feel long. Those last hundred pages took me longer to get through than the first three hundred. At this point, I was ready to get to the end and see if Belle was going to make a daring escape at the end. I didn't skip ahead, I read the pages, but the will to do was there.

But, it was a good read all said and done. An interesting take on the life of Belle Gunness. It left me with a need to do a bit of my own research on the woman, and separate the fact from the fiction. 

HAPPY READING!!