After the international success of his collection of World War II newspaper articles, German Autumn--a book that solidified his status as the most promising and exciting writer in Sweden--Stig Dagerman was sent to France with an assignment to produce more in this journalistic style. But he could not write the much-awaited follow-up. Instead, he holed up in a small French village and in the summer of 1948 created what would be his most personal, poignant, and shocking novel: A Burnt Child.

Set in a working-class neighborhood in Stockholm, the story revolves around a...