Punished

“Punished is a thoroughly harrowing read, a work of fiction that chronicles a terrible moment in history and illustrates how trauma instilled in such moments lasts for decades. Through a series of memorable characters whom we encounter as both children and adults, Laestadius gives a sense of lived-in regrets and long-kept secrets.” —Words Without Borders
“A heartrending narrative of five Indigenous Sámi children forcibly sent to boarding school by the Swedish state in the 1950s… .This moving tale shines an important spotlight on a story little-known to most American readers.” —Publishers Weekly
“Laestadius continues to illuminate Sámi life (see the acclaimed Stolen, 2023) in a tale inspired by her own mother’s experience in such an institution … [An] empathetic treatment of personal strength and courage in the face of systemic exploitation and marginalization.” —Booklist
“Ann-Helén Laestadius’s Punished is a revelation—a heartfelt exploration of identity, justice, and belonging, written with unflinching honesty and poetic grace. This novel doesn’t just tell a story; it demands that we feel every heartbeat along the way.” —Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
“Through taut, concise prose, Punished alternates between harrowing ‘nomad school’ days and fascinating scenes from Sámi daily life. This richly detailed, compelling novel honors the difficult experience of five students while uplifting their ongoing struggle to protect their way of life. Laestadius reminds us that Sámi resilience is rooted in a fierce love for their culture and communities.” —Diane Wilson, author of The Seed Keeper
“An eerie echo of the stories of residential school survivors we have begun to hear in Canada. Written with clarity, sensitivity, and skill, Punished is a moving call to rethink the colonial legacy that has become the status quo in so many places around the world. The medicine of this story is that it will help its readers grasp the transformational change needed for peoples of all cultures to be respected and to live healthy lives, free of racist violence and cultural degradation.” —Andrea Currie, award-winning psychotherapist and author of Finding Otipemisiwak

“Though difficult to read at times, Punished is a testament to truth. I couldn’t put this book down and found myself meditating on it long after reading the final chapter. With every page, I saw my father—a survivor of Norway’s Sámi boarding school system—and I saw myself and our family. Ann-Helén Laestadius compassionately and courageously weaves the stories of survivors, their families, and their communities. Reading her work is like heart medicine and serves as an opportunity to reflect on our strength as Sámi people. It will take generations to heal the often-untold damages of the assimilative government-run schools for Sámi children, but what remains is a proud people and our gollegiella—the golden language. As one character muses, ‘When they could speak Sámi, laughter returned.’ This simple yet powerful line says everything.” —Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, award-winning filmmaker, producer, and actor

Ann-Helén Laestadius is an author and journalist from Kiruna, Sweden. She is Sámi and of Tornedalian descent, two of Sweden’s national minorities. She is also the author of Stolen—which was named Sweden’s Book of the Year, longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, and adapted into a Netflix film—and Punished, both #1 bestsellers in Sweden.

Rachel Willson-Broyles is a freelance Swedish to English translator based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She received her BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, both in Scandinavian Studies. Other authors whose works she has translated include Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Jonas Jonasson, and Malin Persson Giolito.

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