Historical Fiction – Page 25 – Trigger Warning Database

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness. New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman crafts a beautiful, heart-wrenching short story.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental infidelity
Death of a father

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

In Baxter Beach, Barbados, moneyed ex-pats clash with the locals who often end up serving them: braiding their hair, minding their children, and selling them drugs. Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the Baxter Beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. A gunshot no one was meant to witness. A new mother whose baby is found lifeless on the beach. A woman torn between two worlds and incapacitated by grief. And two men driven by desperation and greed who attempt a crime that will risk their freedom — and their lives.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Sexual assault
Incest
Domestic abuse

Rust and Stardust by T Greenwood

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

Camden, NJ, 1948. When 11-year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworths, she has no way of knowing that 52-year-old Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute–unless she does as he says. This chilling novel traces the next two harrowing years as Frank mentally and physically assaults Sally while the two of them travel westward from Camden to San Jose, forever altering not only her life, but the lives of her family, friends, and those she meets along the… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape & child sexual abuse
Suicide
Kidnapping

Waiting by Ha Jin

Waiting by Ha Jin

For more than seventeen years, this devoted and ambitious doctor has been in love with an educated, clever, modern woman, Manna Wu. But back in the traditional world of his home village lives the wife his family chose for him when he was young—a humble and touchingly loyal woman, whom he visits in order to ask, again and again, for a divorce. In a culture in which the ancient ties of tradition and family still hold sway and where adultery discovered by the Party can ruin lives forever, Lin’s passionate love is stretched ever more taut by the passing years. Every summer… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape, on-page

Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in footwork. Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Slavery
Racism
Hate crime
Death of a parent
Death of a grandparent
Police brutality
Animal death
Animal cruelty

Henry’s Bride by Emily Royal

Henry’s Bride by Emily Royal

Jeanette Claybone, newcomer to society thanks to her father’s recent baronetcy, struggles to navigate the waters of the ton during her first season. When an evening walk with the wrong hungry suitor ruins her reputation, she calls a duel for her honour but is left injured. Disowned by all, she finds an unlikely saviour in renowned rake Henry Drayton. Believing her reputation ruined, and determined to enjoy the sin she’s already been punished for, Jeanette succumbs to Henry’s passion. Upon discovering Jeanette told the truth about her virtue, Henry asks for her hand… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cheating
Sexual assault
Murder & disappearance of sex workers
Gun violence

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

Hwani’s family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. The only thing they remember: Their captor wore a painted-white mask. To escape the haunting memories of this incident, the family flees their hometown. Years later, Detective Min—Hwani’s father—learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate… only to vanish as well. Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Human trafficking mentioned
Child abuse
Suicide & suicidal ideation
Grief & loss depiction
Murder
Poisoning
Kidnapping & captivity

The Red Palace by June Hur

The Red Palace by June Hur

Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father’s approval. But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon’s closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher’s innocence, Hyeon launches her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Blood & gore depiction including corpses
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Murder
Torture
Police brutality

Because of You by Pip Harry

Because of You by Pip Harry

Tiny is homeless. Nola has everything she could ask for. They meet when Nola is forced into volunteer work for the writers’ group at the homeless shelter where Tiny is staying, and at first, it seems impossible that two people who are so different could ever be friends. But despite her initial prejudice, Nola quickly learns that there isn’t much separating her from the people who live on the streets. And Tiny begins to see that falling down doesn’t mean you never get back up. Because of You is a story about homelessness, prejudice and the power of words to provide a little hope… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Post-natal depression
Substance addiction
Suicidal ideation
Drug abuse
Death of a friend
Homelessness

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week. What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves? Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Infidelity
Death of a child by drowning
Poisoning