Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

As Nahr sits, locked away in solitary confinement, she spends her days reflecting on the dramatic events that landed her in prison in a country she barely knows. Born in Kuwait in the 70s to Palestinian refugees, she dreamed of falling in love with the perfect man, raising children, and possibly opening her own beauty salon. Instead, the man she thinks she loves jilts her after a brief marriage, her family teeters on the brink of poverty, she’s forced to prostitute herself, and the US invasion of Iraq makes her a refugee, as her parents had been. After trekking through another temporary home in Jordan, she lands in Palestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Israeli occupation.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Gang rape
  • Sex work
  • Abortion
  • Death of a father
  • Torture

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

 It is 1974 and the summer of love is finally drawing to a close. Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the secondary school social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the ‘coolest girl in the world’, Tully Hart – the girl all the boys want to know – moves in across the street and wants to be her best friend. Tully and Kate by summer’s end they made a pact to be ‘best friends forever’.

For thirty years Tully and Kate buoy each other through life. Tully will follow her ambition to find fame and success. Kate knows that all she wants is to fall in love and have a family. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and a mother will change her. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart. But when tragedy strikes, can the bonds of friendship survive?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Drug use
  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid book cover

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Bimisia
  • Homomisia
  • Lesbomisia
  • Forced outing
  • Paedophilia
  • Rape & statutory rape
  • Sexual assault & harassment
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Cheating
  • Alcoholism, secondary character
  • Drug use
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Abortion
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Physical injury
  • Hospitalisation
  • Terminal breast cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of parents in a car accident
  • Blackmail
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy’s epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction, Anna Karenina seems to have everything – beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life – and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny
  • Infidelity
  • Suicide, suicidal ideation & attempted suicide

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis book cover

Grace Mae knows madness. She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Paedophilia & child sexual assault
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide
  • Psychiatric hospital
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Honeythorn by Marina Vivancos

Honeythorn by Marina Vivancos

Omega Milan Pryor knows his duty. He must travel North through the continent towards the snow, the cold, and his new betrothed. They say that Lord Alpha Raphael Ledford, the man he is to marry, is as artic as the weather of his land. But Milan has always been an optimist. Perhaps he might find friendship in the arranged marriage. Even love.

It doesn’t take long for Milan to realize that all the rumours about Lord Raphael are true. Reclusive, distant, frigid. Milan finds himself unwelcome in what he must now call his new home… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Arranged marriage
  • Rape mentioned
  • PTSD & trauma
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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny & racism
  • Eugenics
  • Sexual assault & attempted rape (on-page)
  • Incest
  • Forced breeding mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking
  • Drugging
  • Hallucinations
  • Infertility & miscarriages mentioned
  • Medical treatment for tuberculosis discussed
  • Blood & gore depiction including body horror & cannibalism
  • Death of an infant mentioned
  • Death of a father discussed
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence

Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz

As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball. Still, she can barely contain her excite… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Victim-blaming
  • Attempted rape
  • Forced marriage
  • Medical procedures
  • War themes