An outstanding companion to Laestadius's Stolen, this novel focuses on the older generation of the earlier book, offering a compelling look at state schools, the oppression of the Sami people, and how forced cultural changes are a kind of violence. Laestadius's writing is clear and forthright and a pleasure to read, and her characters have considerable depth and inner workings that readers find revealed a little at a time. A great book for this moment in history, and one to be shared and discussed at length.

A few years ago, author Ann-Helén Laestadius wrote “Stolen,” a powerful novel about the Sámi, the indigenous people of Scandinavia. It was revelatory about the culture and the inhumane hardships these people suffer at the hands of society. That book contained triggers relating to animal cruelty– specifically against reindeer. Now, in the second book of her trilogy, “Punished,” the abuse is unleashed on children.

The mistreatment of indigenous children in re-education boarding schools in the United States and Canada has striking similarities to the experiences of Sámi children. These children were forcibly removed from their homes and stripped of their language, customs, and even their names. The prevailing Social Darwinism of the time held that these people were inferior, and the only reasonable solution was to force their assimilation into society.

In this telling, based on the author’s family background, the evil center is the school’s housemother, Rita. Her unforgiving nature is evident when she displays a fit of rage and permanently disfigures a boy's hand by stepping on it. Additionally, she callously mocks a girl's illness and delays sending her home, resulting in severe consequences.

The stories of five of the children are explored as they grapple with the shame, anger, and guilt that haunt them into adulthood. The psychological scars run deep, preventing them from discussing their shared trauma — not with their children, not even with each other. The repercussions do not fade.

After thirty years have passed, housemother Rita is back. She is physically limited now in her old age– but unapologetic. As bigoted as ever, she still expresses disgust toward those she was responsible for educating.

“Punished?” The children were punished for their heritage. Would they be justified in doling out revenge– punishment– to the personification of evil?

The repetition of cruelty in institutions, in disparate places like the Native American schools and the Irish Magdalene Laundries, is disheartening. How does the conscience remain insulated when acts of cruelty are carried out by institutions?

The novel's pace is a bit slow, which may be attributed to the in-depth development of five characters. While Rita's absolute wickedness may initially seem one-dimensional, history unfortunately has shown that such individuals, driven by religious self-righteousness, have existed. This serves as a crucial reminder of the consequences of a society that fails to embrace diversity and chooses forced assimilation over inclusion.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many American readers will have at least a rudimentary familiarity with the horrors of Indian boarding schools, but few will know that similar schools existed in Northern Sweden, Norway, and Finland, to assimilate children of the Sami reindeer herders. In her new novel Punished, Ann-Helén Læstadius, a Swedish writer of Sámi and Tornedalian descent and whose mother attended one of the “nomad schools," brings such a school to international awareness, not only depicting the harsh realities of daily school life but also such schools’ long-term effects on their students.

The book opens as a school employee identified only as Anna walks through the school on her last day, thinking of individual students who have left that day for Christmas break and whom she assumes she will never see again. With this prologue, Læstadius briefly introduces Anna, the five central student characters as seen through Anna’s eyes, and the head mistress, called Housemother by the students, touted as the children’s “extra mother” by the press, but more commonly viewed within the school as the devil woman or witch.

The novel’s fifty-plus chapters that follow are set during two time periods—1950-1955 and 1985-1986. They are also divided among three girls (Else-Maj, Marge, and Anne-Risten) and two boys (Jon-Ante and Nilsa). To avoid any confusion, the author clearly titles each chapter with an individual student’s name and the year. As readers come to know each student in depth, they also meet an assortment of other characters: a few additional students including Else-Maj’s sister Sara and Nilsa’s brother Aslak along with an assortment of school employees including Anna and the Housemother in the 1950s chapters and the central students’ spouses, children, and a few others in the 1980s chapters.

Else-Maj, Marge, Anne-Risten, Jon-Ante, and Nilsa come to life with their differing personalities, school experiences, and psychological effects, such as fears and guilt. Some return to their home village while others flee to the city. Some embrace their reindeer culture while others adopt new ways of life.

As the 1950s become the 1980s and the young students find themselves middle-aged, Anna and Housemother (Rita Olsson) reappear, evoking repressed memories and, in the case of Housemother, sparking a need for revenge.

The five students, Anna, and Housemother will stay with me for months if not years to come. Stolen, the author’s first novel, was named Sweden’s Book of the Year and is now a Netflix Original movie. Punished merits a series and an international literary prize.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance reader egalley of this outstanding book which I cannot recommend enough.

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This book is so moving, so informative and so desperately important! A must read for any serious reader.

This one was shocking an eye opening. I knew that indigenous children were forced to attend government run boarding schools in the US and Canada into the 20th century. And we are slowly coming to terms. I was shocked to learn that Sweden of all places was just as guilty. With their indigenous population the Sami. Even though this is a work of fiction it is based on real life events.

Thank you netgalley for the advance eARC of this translated novel. I read Stolen some time ago and really enjoyed it, and learning so much more about Sami people and their culture.

This book goes further back in time to the 1950s at a nomad school (i.e. residential school similar to those inflicted on indigenous people in the US and Canada) and follows five main children truth their experiences there, as well as their lives as adults in the mid 1980s and how the trauma affected them and their families. It's a heartwrenching read and reminded me of Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, which followed five fictional residential school survivors.

This is all about consequences. It moves back and forth in time to tell the story of five young people who were sent to the "nomad" boarding school at age seven, an experience that shaped them physically in one case but emotionally and psychologically for all. Now, Rita, the cruel woman who ruled their lives has moved back to their small town and they must cope with this. Jon-Ante has never married, feels different from his family, and is devoted to his car. Else-maj, who suffered perhaps the biggest loss, is raising her children and along with her husband who also went to the school refuses to speak of time there. Nilsa, the bully of the group, doesn't know how awful he was but his little brother.....Anne-Risten married a Swede and has denied her Sami heritage. And Marge, who finds herself working as a home health care visitor for Rita, has never married but just adopted a 6 year old from Colombia. All five are linked, all five feel very real. This is a an emotional heartbreaker about cruelty-and it should make us think about what we do to our children. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This became a page turner for me- it's a terrific read.

As expected, I found myself tearing up while reading this. The topic of boarding schools, separating little kids from the safety of their homes and their culture, will never stop upsetting me. Laestadius effectively explores the long-term impact of this trauma by not only painting a portrait of the multitudes of issues the kids faced, but also flashing forward to the modern times where we get a look at how everyone turned out as adults. I found this to be a fascinating study of how trauma impacted everyone differently amid shifting societal norms. I particularly appreciated the myriad of perspectives we got here, as the story didn't have a single main character. Laestadius also masterfully conveyed the urgency and intense emotions that arose as the traumatic events were happening, contrasting them with the different mutedness the survivors exhibited as adults.

If you haven't read it, Stolen by the same author is also excellent and i'm thrilled she has another book coming out later this year in Swedish, which makes me hopeful for a 2026 translation being available. Punished also pairs really well with the novel in verse Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson, one of my favorite reads from last year.

This heartwrenching novel follows the lives of 5 Sámi children from reindeer herder families who were sent to a nomad school suffering abuses and prevented from using their native tongue.

The narrative goes back and forth between the 50s and 80s, presenting the characters in their sad childhood with a racist and cruel headmaster and how after 30 years, they kept being hunted by trauma and having identity problems with stigmas preventing them from having a happy life.

The novel is well-written, but because of the multiple main characters and secondary characters, it was hard for me to recall the names, and it was a bit confusing at times because I'm wasn't familiar with these names.

It includes some words in Sámi, and I found it informative because even if I didn't know about this ethnic group before, I was able to get a whole picture about them.

This story based on real events made me think about all the indigenous people and minorities around the world and how they struggle to preserve their language and culture but also to think on how strong they are because despite all the oppression and injustices they have suffered in the past, their language is still alive.

I took my time reading this slowly because most of the novel includes misfortunate events, but there is a bit of hope in the last part, and I liked the different meanings behind this title.

If you like learning about other cultures and enjoying books with the themes mentioned before, you might find this book interesting. I love how literature is a bridge that can connect readers with a different culture and learn its history with the richness and sadness of the past, and I think this could be a good contribution to literature.

Thank you, Scribner and Netgalley, for this digital ARC

Character-heavy, wistful, immersive, and affecting…A book that generates both ire and optimism, asking the question, “If you had the chance to punish the one who damaged you as a child, would you?”

The story unfurls, alternating between the mid 1950s to the mid-1980s as we learn about a Swedish aboriginal tribe called Sámi, who were forced to send their children to the Nomad School to unlearn what it is to be Sámi during the 1950s. We meet and follow five main characters, discover the horrors that they experienced, and how those monstrosities made them become who they were and what they became at the hand of their nefarious housemother, Rita Olsson.

Although it is a bit heavy in its character development, you soon realize that its most important players lives are super easy to follow. Those of the lives of Else-Maj, Jon-Ante, Marge, Anne-Risten, Nilsa, Aslak, and Anna are the only ones you will remember. Don’t get too distracted (like I did) by the secondary and tertiary characters mentioned throughout the book or it will become too cumbersome, and you may just abandon it. Just let it unfold to its rewarding ending. It is a rapid read.

This book will be published on February 4th, 2025. I would like to thank author, Ann-Helén Laestadius; publisher Simon & Schuster; and netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed above are wholly my own.

Historical fiction based on true events about Sámi Indigenous experiences, based on the author's family experiences.

Punished follows five Sámi children forcibly sent to a government boarding school in 1950s Sweden & explores their trauma and different coping mechanisms 30 years after their shared experience. It's written in multiple perspectives from the five former students which was actually easy to follow. I loved the background of each family being introduced before the bomb is dropped - they confront the abusive housemother who returns decades later.

Read for:
Then & now timeline
Intergenerational trauma & how it's handed in different people
Indigenous resistance
Healing and confronting past abuse
Revenge & consequences

3.5 stars.

I really liked Stolen. It was my first fictional introduction to the Sámi people, and being from the US, there were a lot of parallels between how Native Americans and Sámi were treated, and are still being treated today, under colonization.

Punished is another good story about the Sámi community, exploring how a group of Sámi children were treated in a nomad school (hint: it was abuse), and how they fared as adults. I think this book is more for lit fic lovers. There were parts that were quite slow and were more character studies than actual plot.

Each character had their own family lives to contend with, and I really liked how this story spanned at least three generations for some of the characters (their parents both in the past and present, and the characters' young children).

I also liked the back-and-forth time jumps between childhood and adulthood. The chapters were labeled clearly so you know the era and the character POV, so there wasn't any confusion there.

While I did like how each character's experiences had both similarities and differences to one another, there were one too many character POVs to keep track of. Else-Maj and Anne-Risten's childhood chapters were a lot stronger than their adult chapters. Marge's adult chapters were great, but I barely remember anything from her childhood. And Jon-Ante and Nilsa's childhood and adulthood chapters were the most memorable.

The storyline with Housemother didn't really satisfy me at the end. She was a central figure in the characters' experiences at nomad school, so I expected more of a climax. But I suppose what happened was more realistic.

I did love the actual ending though. It felt very cathartic to see some of the characters start to slowly heal from their traumatic childhoods.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for this arc.

Content warnings: child abuse, death, cancer, cultural genocide, miscarriage

Punished is the second book in the Sapmitrilogin and Ann-Helén Laestadius delivers again. A powerful, deeply moving work of art that makes you wonder what you would do if you encountered someone who hurt you so deeply in childhood.

Five children, Else-Maj, Jon-Ante, Nilsa, Anne-Risten, and Marge, are forced to go to a nomad school in 1950s northern Sweden as part of an assimilation effort by the Swedish government. As part of a cultural genocide. All experience trauma from their housemother, Rita. If the children dared to speak up, they were punished into silence, and those who helped the children were also punished. The children are forced to learn Swedish and punished for speaking their native Sámi, punished for joiking, punished for simply being who they are: Sámi.

Thirty years later, the children are now adults and coping with their experiences in different ways. Some turn to religion, others embrace their heritage but hold onto anger and act out in destructive ways. Others hide their identity and hope that others don't find out who they really are, raising their children in the Swedish culture instead of the Sámi one. They continue to cope, until Rita the housemother returns into their lives. How do they cope with Rita coming back? You'll just have to read to find out.

While I wish I could say that this work was entirely fictional, it is based on real events the author's mother went through. This book was an emotionally heavy read, but a necessary one. It provides awareness to the struggles that the Sámi have gone through for an English-speaking audience, much like the first book in the trilogy, Stolen. It goes deeper back into the dark history, exposing the harsh realities of nomad schools. It tackles the complex ways trauma affects everyone. Each character processed it differently and it made me look into how I process things.

While I know the third book in the trilogy, Skam, is yet to be published even in Laestadius's native Swedish, I am already looking forward to the English translation.

A fascinating read for this American who had no idea of the life these reindeer herders lead and the past injustices done to them, so similar to the treatment of indigenous people in America and Canada as well. Why is it that we feel a need to wipe out a culture, I wonder? The story of five children follows their lives focusing on two periods of life. The translator left a lot of words in the language they were written and while I appreciated that, I found myself often wanting to know exactly what they meant and turning to the internet to learn more about the Sámi. And that isn't a bad thing. So, this book asks a bit from its readers. Also, not a bad thing. It's a unique read that sheds light on a different culture and for me, that is always a desirable quality in a book. I was also spurred on to watch the Netflix film based on the author's other book, Stolen.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's a whole other world and one worth knowing.

None of the five Sámi in Ann-Helén Laestadius’s heartbreaking novel, Punished, want to go to the nomad school in Kiruna. Else-Maj, Marge, Anne-Risten, Jon-Ante, and Nilsa have heard stories about how awful it is there. They’re not allowed to speak their language; they must speak Swedish, even if they don’t know it. They can only go home during breaks. Worst of all is Rita Olsson, the housemother, who loathes the Sámi. In chapters set in the early 1950s and the early to mid-1980s, Laestadius shows us how the abuse these children suffer under Olsson’s “care” and its longterm effects. Rachel Willson-Broyles beautifully translated this moving, harrowing novel.

The first chapters of Punished take us back to the Kiruna nomad school. It’s not everyone’s first day. Nilsa, Marge, and Anne-Risten have been there at least a year and are familiar with the hair-trigger temper of Rita Olsson. Marge and Anne-Risten help Else-Maj learn the rules and Swedish as quickly as possible. Jon-Ante, sadly, is bullied by Nilsa and Rita. Not all of the teachers at the school are bad. Some of the staff know that the way the children are treated is terrible, but they don’t act, either because they don’t have direct proof or because they’re afraid of Rita themselves. In later chapters, we learn that some changes are made to make things better but these struck me as feeble responses to the way our protagonists and the other Sámi children were treated.

The chapters in the 1980s were, if anything, harder for me to read because Anne-Risten, Marge, Jon-Ante, Nilsa, and Else-Maj are carrying the weight of what happened to them without ever sharing their burdens with their loved ones. Anne-Risten and Marge assimilate into Swedish culture (wholly or partly) to avoid lingering racism. Jon-Ante aches to join his family as they herd reindeer. Nilsa only knows how to “toughen up” his children so that no one will physically hurt them. And Else-Maj does her best to live as traditional a life as possible, even though her oldest child just wants to be an ordinary Swedish teenager. And then, into the middle of this, Rita Olssen reappears. Even though she’s physically helpless by the 1980s, Rita still strikes bone-deep terror into the people who remember what she was capable of.

Reading Punished made me feel like a witness, rather than just a reader. I don’t say this because what Rita Olsson does is criminal but also because there are so many places where I wished that I could intervene in the action. Some of the characters, like Marge and Anne-Risten and Jon-Ante, I want to rescue. I want to warn others about the barely-suppressed anger in Nilsa. And I want to let Else-Maj know that she is magnificent and fierce in her dedication to keeping all things Sámi alive—but also that the surest way to piss off a teenage daughter is to force her to follow in her mother’s footsteps before she has a chance to find herself. And I want to help all of them testify against Rita Olsson, so that she can never hurt anyone ever again. We don’t get to see how some of these characters’ stories end. The end of Punished gives the sense that they all carry on: some happy, some miserable, some merely continuing. I know some readers don’t like ambiguous endings like this but it works here (at least for me) because not only do the characters live on, but so do all the ways a person can be Sámi.

This was listed with a recommendation made by Fredrik Backman, who is one of my favorite modern authors and thus my interest was piqued right away.

I found myself quite intrigued by a historical story about a native population that I, personally, know very little about. It wasn’t lost on me that while Punished is a work of fiction based on actual happenings, there are surely similarities in this story to the experiences of other native populations around the world, including here in the USA. Reading about the loss of culture and language, minimizations on family, forced assimilation, and overt bigotry, particularly through the voice of children, is heartbreaking. It is a great reminder that respect for culture cannot be overlooked for fear of history repeating itself.

Punished provided much to think on, but was not an overall “wow!” for me. Generally, I found the characters lacking in depth and nuance. Admittedly, Laestadius has given some a stronger build than others but overall, their motivations came through as primarily surface-level. My reading experience during this novel did not provide a significant emotional connection to the cast aside from empathy for children suffering at the hands of adults. The groundwork was there but sadly, it just didn’t get to a place of depth for this reader.

Additionally, the presentation of societal prejudice within this novel reads relatively murky. The abuse suffered by the children at school is, I believe, meant to be emblematic of a larger social sentiment against their lineage and culture. Unfortunately, though, this story’s focus on the abusive staff person, while distressing, reads more as an isolated incident of corruption and cruelty. Readers with a knowledge of history can glean the broader message that she is empowered by social sentiment but, in my opinion, the story itself doesn’t quite reach the portrayal of widespread prejudice in the way that was likely intended.

When all was said and done, while I would have enjoyed richer character building from a fiction standpoint and a more powerful statement about society from a historical standpoint, I am thankful for the unique perspective this novel presented. It gives the reader an opportunity to think about lived experiences and their impacts as people grow, in addition to allowing us to hear a set of voices not often heard.

"Punished" by Ann-Helen Laestadius is a thought-provoking and compelling exploration of the Sami people's struggle for cultural (and soul) preservation in Sweden after being forced to attend "nomad school" as children, where their language and culture were taken (beaten) from them.

Laestadius provides a deeply personal account of the challenges faced by five children from the close-knit Sami reindeer herding community. The story sheds light on the impact of forced assimilation policies and the resulting trauma that affected their adult lives, weaving back and forth from their childhood in the 1950s to adulthood in the 1980s.

Through vivid storytelling, Laestadius effectively conveys the resilience and strength of the majority of the Sami people in the face of systematic oppression and blatant racism. However, the return of the housemother who inflicted so much pain, torture, and death has returned to their town as a frail elderly woman who requires assistance. Her presence causes a strong visceral and mental reaction to each grown character, and it's interesting to see how each of them handles suppressed memories that resurface and inner rage.

One of the book's most significant strengths is its ability to educate and raise awareness about an often overlooked part of history. Laestadius skillfully weaves historical context into the narrative, providing valuable insights into the cultural, social, and political dynamics that have shaped the Sami experience.

"Punished" is a sobering read that confronts brutal truths. Laestadius's work is a vital contribution to the ongoing dialogue about Indigenous rights and the enduring impact of colonialism. The editor asks the reader at the very beginning of the book - if given the opportunity to punish the person who hurt you as a child, would you do it? And I appreciate how the author's writing and storytelling at the end allow the readers to make that call for themselves. Like where does my own capacity to forgive land? And if we know the personal history behind an abuser or bully, does that increase our ability to forgive?

It was heartbreaking to learn that this happened not only in the U.S. and Canada but also in Sweden. It's an essential part of history that we should all know.

Also - this cover is so beautiful!

Thank you, #NetGalley, #annhelenlaestadius, and #Scribner, for the ARC of #Punished in exchange for my honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book very much. Kept me thoroughly interested through one sitting. Look forward to much more by this author. Loved Stolen as well, but liked this one better.

I was aware of the residential schools Indigenous children were forced into in the US (Reservation Dogs has an episode on this, if you're interested. It's a good show, check it out!) and Canada but I had no idea such a thing was happening to Sámi children in Sweden. This was an incredible learning opportunity and a springboard for me into dive into learning more about this as whole. This took me such a long time to read because every time I read it, I cried. The things these children went through was heartbreaking and I know conditions in such schools were even more brutal than what was depicted in this story. I can't even begin to fathom having my own language and culture ripped away from me and forced and punished into conforming to someone else's idea of how they think I should be. The only negative for me was it took me an awfully long time to remember to who each character from the 50s was as a child and connect them to their adult counterpart in the 80s. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have read this and expand my learning of other Indigenous cultures I was previously unaware of. I know this is a story that was based off the author's own family's experience and I would recommend this all day every day over T.J. Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea. It's not a "cozy" story, and it will shatter your heart into a million pieces, but you'll get way more out of it.

I thought that Ann-Helén Laestadius did an outstanding job of creating the Sami children and placing them at 7 years of age in a nomad school away from home to learn Swedish. Anna, who was maid, and who helped the children such as Else-Maj and Jon-Ante cope with their housemother Mrs. Rita Olsson. We have other characters such as Marge, Anne-Risten, and Nilsa. Each of the characters are described in either 1952 or in 1985. We see them as either a seven year old or a 40 year old in each case they hold on to their attributes throughout their lives. Ann-Helén takes us through painful periods with Jon-Ante and Mrs. Olsson. And other times with the other characters. But you must read the story to find out what happens in their lives. I can't imagine what's it like to not know another language and being sent away to resolve it. I know that my grandchildren, who live in Austria, were picked on for not knowing German right away, they knew English from my daughter and Bulgarian from their father. It took them till they were teens and taller than everyone else to become well with German.