Historical Fiction – Page 55 – Trigger Warning Database

Paradise by Toni Morrison

Paradise by Toni Morrison

They shoot the white girl first. With the rest they can take their time.”

Founded by the descendants of freed slaves and survivors in exodus from a hostile world, the patriarchal community of Ruby is built on righteousness, rigidly enforced moral law, and fear. But seventeen miles away, another group of exiles has gathered in a promised land of their own. And it is upon these women in flight from death and despair that nine male citizens of Ruby will lay their pain, their terror, and their murderous rage.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Rape
Abortion
Miscarriage
Gun violence

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labour camp on charges of having helped the Nazis–with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Paedophilia & sexual assault
Childbirth
Starvation
Physical illness
Torture
Word War Two (theme)
Concentration camps

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Antiziganism
Antisemitism
Nazism
Rape
Genital mutilation
Gun violence
Chemical gassing (gas chambers)
World War Two & the Holocaust (theme)
Concentration camps (theme)

A Master of Djinn by P Djèlí Clark

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Racism
Colourism
Colonialism
Disfigurmisia
Gambling addiction
Self-mutilation
Blood & gore depiction
Police brutality
Immolation

The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew is alarmed when Nathan Gombet threatens her father. Gombet sold a piece of land for a railroad bridge through Carson Drew and now believes that he was cheated. Meanwhile, valuable objects are disappearing from rooms in the Turnbull mansion even while the Turnbull sisters, Rosemary and Florette, are at home in their locked house. Having heard about her reputation for solving mysteries, the sisters invite Nancy Drew to stay in the mansion and discover the thief.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Drugging
Attempted murder by a truck accident
Kidnapping & captivity
Disappearance of a father
Home invasion

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P Djèlí Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 returns to the alternate Cairo of Clark’s short fiction, where humans live and work alongside otherworldly beings; the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities handles the issues that can arise between the magical and the mundane. Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr shows his new partner Agent Onsi the ropes of investigation when they are called to subdue a dangerous, possessed tram car. What starts off as a simple matter of exorcism, however, becomes more complicated as the origins of the demon inside are revealed.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Sexism
Animal death (chicken)

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P Djèlí Clark

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and plot that could unravel time itself.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Sexism
Suicide
Murder
Gun violence
Explosion

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make…

It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemsyl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio — a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Antisemitism
Death of a child
Gun violence
Labour camps mentioned
World War Two & the Holocaust

A Dark and Stormy Knight by Kerrigan Byrne

A Dark and Stormy Knight by Kerrigan Byrne

Sir Carlton Morley is famously possessed of extraordinary will, singular focus, and a merciless sense of justice. As a man, he secured his fortune and his preeminence as Scotland Yard’s ruthless Chief Inspector. As a decorated soldier, he was a legend for his unflinching trigger finger, his precision in battle, and his imperturbable strength. But as a boy, he was someone else. A twin, a thief, and a murderer until tragedy reshaped him.

Now he stalks the night, in search of redemp…. Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Domestic abuse mentioned, off-page

The Scot Beds His Wife by Kerrigan Byrne

The Scot Beds His Wife by Kerrigan Byrne

Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne, is a notorious Highlander and an unrelenting Lothario who uses his slightly menacing charm to get what he wants—including too many women married to other men. But now, Gavin wants to put his shady past behind him… more or less. When a fiery lass who is the heiress to the land he wishes to possess drops into his lap, he sees a perfectly delicious opportunity.

Samantha Masters has come back to Scotland, in a pair of trousers, and with a whole world of dangerous secrets from her time spent in the Wild West trailing… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Pregnancy