Literary Fiction – Page 22 – Trigger Warning Database

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make. Tell the truth, and destroy her family. Or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cancer
Death of a parent
Murder

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she’s in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child sexual abuse resulting in pregnancy recounted
Suicide
Sibling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Death of a parent
Murder

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

On a dark midwinter night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Domestic violence
Suicide
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a child
Kidnapping

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are vanishing cats and smoky bars, lonely hearts and mysterious women, baseball and the Beatles, woven together to tell stories that speak to us all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Suicide

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo,

Kim Ji-young is the most common name for Korean women born in the 1980s. Kim Ji-young is representative of her generation: At home, she is an unfavoured sister to her princeling little brother. In primary school, she is a girl who has to line up behind the boys at lunchtime. In high school, she is a daughter whose father blames her for being harassed late at night. In university, she is a good student who doesn’t get put forward for internships by her professor. In the office, she is an exemplary employee who is overlooked for promotion by her manager. At home, she is a wife who has given up her career to take care… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Alcoholism
Depression
Pregnancy & childbirth
Miscarriage mentioned
Abortion mentioned
Bullying

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

When she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there’s more at stake than merely winning and losing.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Misogyny
Substance addiction
Death of a parent

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbour clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Fatmisia
Incest
Alcoholism
Infertility mentioned
Physical injury
Death of a child
Murder
Car accident
Animal death
Animal cruelty

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of 2021, Anthony Doerr’s gorgeous third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, and hope–and a book. In Cloud Cuckoo Land, Doerr has created a magnificent tapestry of times and places that reflect our vast interconnectedness–with other species, with each other, with those who lived before us, and with those who will be here after we’re gone… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Ableism
Suicide, off-page
Death of a sister
Animal death
Terrorism
Poverty

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.

Usually grounded and mild-mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophist… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Spousal abandonment
Miscarriage recounted

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers and one night, Jude’s worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse & neglect mentioned
Foster care system
Depression
Suicidal ideation
Miscarriage mentioned
Car accident