America's Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness

By Jane Simon Ammeson

How does a Norwegian farm girl become an infamous American serial killer, responsible for upward of 40 murders? Born in rural Norway in 1859, "Belle" Storset Sorenson Gunness was constantly dealt bad hands in life—so she decided to take life into her own hands.

In America's Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness, Jane Simon Ammeson traces Gunness's path from a poor teenager rejected by a wealthy lover; to a new wife in Chicago, desperate to escape the poverty of her childhood and impatient for a child to love; to an ambitious, widowed landowner in La Porte, Indiana. Ammeson's careful research reveals how the young immigrant slowly turned into one of America's most dangerous serial killers, allegedly murdering husbands, lovers, and children, and, for a price, disposing of inconvenient corpses for others. Ammeson brings this shocking story to life, detailing the suspicious neighbors who were cowed into silence by Belle's intimidating personality, the culture of orphanages trafficking children and matrimonial agencies, the carnival atmosphere that exploded around the pile of bones found on Gunness's farm, and the sensational reporting that filled newspapers for months.

Perfect for true crime fans fascinated by the creation of a sociopathic serial killer, America's Femme Fatale will leave you entertained and looking over your shoulder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781684351619

Book preview

Reviews for America's Femme Fatale

[waltzmn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was originally suggested to Jane Simon Ammeson by an editor at an academic press. It took me perhaps ten pages to figure out why it was instead published by a non-academic publisher: It can't be taken seriously.Belle Gunness -- now she was worth taking seriously. A Norwegian immigrant who settled in La Port, Indiana, she became one of the most effective serial killers in American history -- apparently polishing off two husbands, at least one adopted child, and probably dozens of men who came to work at her farm. But her (known) career ended in April 1908 when her home burned, leaving four dead bodies burned beyond recognition in the wreckage.It was some time before it was discovered that Belle was a mass murderer. Once it was, she became the subject of many newspaper articles and several semi-popular songs. But, because the bodies in the house were so badly burned, it was never certain whether Belle was one of the victims of the fire -- or if she had set it herself to cover up her crimes. Since I was researching the songs, I wanted to get to the bottom of the story. Since this is, as of this writing, the newest book on the subject, and since it is marketed as non-fiction, I decided to look into it -- it is said that there has been an "inconclusive" DNA examination, and I was hoping for details.And soon discovered that the book has no index and no footnotes. Not good for an academic book, but sometimes publishers try to save money in bad ways. But, no, the reason that it has no academic apparatus is because it's so heavily fictionalized. Example from very near the beginning: Ammeson reports that, while in Norway, Belle (who had not yet adopted that name) became pregnant by someone of higher wealth and station, but the father would not marry her, and beat her; she lost the baby. According to Ammeson, she managed to arrange for his death. Ammeson presents this as fact, even though she can't so much as figure out the name of the man she allegedly killed.For the record, the most reliable book on the subject, Harold Schechter's Hell's Princess, mentions the incident bout doubts that it even happened. The tale came from much later reporting from people who knew Belle in Norway before she emigrated, but hadn't known her for decades.Yet Ammeson not only treats it as fact, she actually tells us what was going on in Belle's head as this unverifiable incident occurred.I frankly started skimming after a few dozen pages of that. Since there is no way to tell what is fact and what is Ammeson (my rough estimate is 30% fact), what's the point of reading? The story of Belle Gunness is interesting enough, and frightening enough, to be worthy of a non-fiction telling. So if you're interested, get the real book on the subject, the aforementioned Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter.