Tree Killers

A gripping historical novel about women marked by a war that divided a nation, by the author of the acclaimed Land of Snow and Ashes.

A young woman is brought to the hospital as an orderly straight from a Red prisoner camp. She proves to be the best medic in the place and stays alongside the talented surgeon Ulpu to help those who have given birth and those wounded in the war.

When Ulpu, a new life advocate, begins to teach a Red prisoner who stinks of death, both their lives take on a new meaning. But soon Ulpu begins to question herself about who she really is, where she has come from. And what is Ulpu’s motive for helping women in trouble?

Sixteen years later, these questions are
answered by a special detective. What is the truth in a case where the heart also matters?

READING MATERIAL
Finnish edition & PDF
Sample translation 50 pp.
Synopsis

Publishing information

Year of publication

2025

Page count

217

Original title

Puuntappajat

Original language

Finnish

Original publisher

Otava

About the author

Author photo of Petra Rautiainen for Rights and Brands Literary Rights.

Petra Rautiainen was born in 1988 in a small town in Eastern Finland. She has a Master’s degree in History and Cultural Studies, and is currently working on her doctoral thesis on representations of the Sámi people in the Finnish media. She has travelled around the world, studied in the UK and worked in Canada, New Zealand and Scotland. In Finland, she has also worked as a journalist and studied creative writing.Since childhood, Petra has been inspired by the barren nature of the Arctic areas. Hiking is her passion – she has hiked considerably in Lapland, but also in Iceland, Scotland and on the Faroe Islands. So far, she has preferred to take her hikes alone, but in the future, she’ll be accompanied by her new poodle puppy Ruska (the name translates to ‘autumn foliage’).Petra is interested in matters of equality, in minorities and their culture, as well as in historic representations of difference that still influence our norms and ideas today.“For me, writing is a way to try to understand the world, as well as a way to construct a world. Writing creates communication simultaneously on many different levels: a small detail can be just that to one reader, but to others it can create a possibility for a new deep connection and understanding.”– Petra Rautiainen

Author page

Reviews

"The narrative is at once vivid, horrific, and beautiful. It stays focused throughout, neither randomly nor accidentally. From the beginning, the focus is on the mother, the child, birth, and death, and it remains there until the very end. The conclusion is interesting both narratively and in terms of its worldview. Rarely does a war novel revolve around a woman giving birth and a child being born."

Kansan Uutiset

"A great historical novel about issues that are usually swept under the rug, and which, unfortunately, the rhetoric surrounding them reverberates once again. The story of the book sticks in your mind."

@worlds between the sheets

"Puuntappajat is a powerful, linguistically intense, and skillfully constructed book with a strong atmosphere."

kirjavinkit.fi

"Petra Rautiainen's Tree Killers is a poignant and even shocking historical novel. [...]Overall, the novel addresses issues and situations that are rarely explored in literature. [...]The novel's structure is mysterious. The events of 1918 generally follow the historical timeline. However, the private detective's reflections in 1934 require the reader to think for themselves. All in all, this made the novel fascinating."

LM- Mummin kirjastossa blog