CLICK HERE FOR AN AUDIOBOOK COPY
Join us for an in-person Book Club Discussion & Themed Tasting Experience on Saturday, March 14th from 4-6 pm at Tre Kronor Nordic Bistro in North Park!
This adventure is inspired by Butterfly Hurricanes: Tales of Powerful Women & features Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius (PRE-READING IS RECOMMENDED FOR THIS EVENT)…
Local Book Lovers will gather to discuss the featured book at Tre Kronor in North Park (3258 W Foster Ave), where they can also get a taste of some delicious themed small bites + bevys inspired by the characters, plots and settings of the story while we mingle! A *MINI BOOK FAIR POP-UP* with curated books and reading pairings will be set up for shopping after the event, so guests can stock up on their favorite bookish goodies to take home with them. All attendees will get a TAKE-AWAY GIFT + EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNTS FROM OUR BOOKTIQUE too...
NOTE: EACH $15 TICKET PURCHASED ABOVE INCLUDES THE BOOK DISCUSSION, SPECIAL THEMED TREAT FROM OUR BOOKTIQUE & VIRTUAL COUPON FOR SHOPPING. BOOK CLUB ATTENDEES CAN OPT TO PAY FOR THE *OPTIONAL* ADDITIONAL FOOD/DRINK TASTING THE NIGHT OF THE EVENT!
With each Book Club sign up, you can choose to purchase a physical copy of the featured book(s) to read before we meet in-person (CLICK THE CHECKBOX(ES) TO ADD A COPY OF THE BOOK(S) TO YOUR ORDER), decide to download an audiobook from the link below before the event, OR opt to grab your book(s) from the library / share your book(s) with a friend.
BOOK SYNOPSIS
From the internationally bestselling author of the “extraordinary” (Fredrik Backman) novel Stolen comes a harrowing story - inspired by true events - of five Indigenous children forced to attend a government-run boarding school in 1950s Sweden, revealing the emotional scars they carry thirty years later...
In the 1950s near the Arctic Circle, seven-year-olds Jon-Ante, Else-Maj, Nilsa, Marge, and Anne-Risten are taken from their families. As children of Sámi reindeer herders, the Swedish state has mandated they attend a “nomad school” where they are forbidden to speak their native language. As the children visit home only sporadically, their parents know little about the abuse they face, much of it at the hands of the housemother, Rita. Those who dare to speak up are silenced.
Thirty years later, the five children have chosen different paths to cope with the past. Else-Maj holds strong in her Sámi identity but has turned to religion for comfort, while Anne-Risten now goes by Anne to hide her heritage from friends. Nilsa herds reindeer like his father but harbors a lot of anger, and Jon-Ante struggles with traumatic memories from the school. Then there’s Marge, who is about to adopt a daughter from Colombia, but can’t help questioning if it’s right to take a child from her homeland.
Then suddenly, housemother Rita reappears. Now an old, frail woman claiming to have God on her side, she acts like nothing ever happened. But the five former students have neither forgotten nor forgiven her. As the narrative shifts between each of their perspectives, the novel asks: If you had the chance to punish the person who hurt you as a child, would you?
Based on the author’s family story, Punished is a searing novel about loss, memory, cultural erasure, and community that vibrates with righteous rage over one nation’s greatest betrayals of its native people.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
Publisher: Scribner
Publish Date: February 04, 2025
Pages: 448
Dimensions: 8.33 X 5.55 X 1.2 inches | 0.75 pounds
Language: English
Type: Paperback
Condition: NEW
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TASTINGS CALENDAR
MARCH 14 (4-6 PM) PUNISHED @ TRE KRONOR NORDIC BISTRO IN NORTH PARK
MARCH 22 (2-4 PM) MEET THE NEWMANS @ MUSEUM OF BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS IN CHICAGO
(CLICK THE LINKS ABOVE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH EVENT)
PLEASE NOTE: Not everything that is available in our online collections is in-stock at our Booktique! If you order a book or product that is not readily available at either of our locations, we will notify you immediately via email, confirm your custom order approval, and order your item(s) right away (orders typically arrive within one week) OR we will suggest an in-stock substitution if your order is time-sensitive. Please send us a message or email us at newbookjoy@gmail.com if you’d like to check availability before ordering!
We also have a TON of books and products in our Booktique that we’re working on uploading to our website as we speak… If you’re looking for something that’s not on our online store, please reach out!