Gabriella Saab

Author of Historical Fiction

Blog

The Star Society Content Warnings

For those who would like content warnings, I will include those for THE STAR SOCIETY below. This story takes place during World War II and the Red Scare in Hollywood, so the subject matter might be triggering or difficult for some. My readers’ comfort is of the highest importance to me, so I hope this helps you. Below you will find mild but vague spoilers that should not affect your reading experience. The information is in no particular order.

  • Language (a few brief instances of strong language)
  • Violence/gun violence/war violence
  • War (the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands; mention of conscription, rations, starvation, suffering, death, MIA; mention of Pearl Harbor and the Blitz; mention of the draft, military service, and military training films)
  • Death/murder (mention of execution by firing squad)
  • Politics/political parties (democracy, communism, fascism, anti-communism, anti-fascism, Nazism, anti-Nazism, Red Scare)
  • Antisemitism (mention of Jewish characters being attacked, killed, discriminated against, moved to ghettos)
  • Collaboration (one character becomes a Nazi officer’s mistress and hosts gatherings for the men; others are uncertain if the decision is made willingly, by force, or simply for survival)
  • Retaliation against collaborators (mention of women having their heads shaved and being publicly mocked because they are suspected of collaborating with the Nazis)
  • Abandonment (absent father)
  • Misogyny, sexism, chauvinism
  • Gaslighting/manipulation/emotional abuse
  • Favoritism (parent favors one child and is highly critical of the other)
  • Torture (beatings; threat of harm to another to force confessions/compliance; forced nudity; branding)
  • Scarring from torture
  • Assault – physical (hitting); sexual (forced nudity; unwanted touch)
  • Fear/concern of rape (rape does not occur)
  • Brief sexual content/nudity (mild)
  • Intimacy issues/insecurity
  • PTSD/panic/anxiety
  • Stalking (one character receives anonymous threatening messages and begins to feel increasingly pursued)
  • Home invasion/attack (one character’s home is invaded and threats/attack follow)
  • Smoking
  • Alcohol/intoxication
  • Lying/deception
  • Gossip/rumors
  • Mention of refusing to give sexual favors in exchange for work (“the casting couch”)
  • Homosexuality (vaguely alluded to/mentioned in reference to one character’s private life and is considered subversive behavior, but beyond this there is no explicit homophobia)
  • Government recruitment of former Nazis (usually through blackmail: war crimes will be forgiven in exchange for government service, otherwise the former Nazis will be held accountable for their crimes)
  • Hearings/trials
  • Imprisonment
  • Eavesdropping, deception, planting listening devices, taking photographs spying/prying all in relation to private investigation
  • Blacklisting (characters thought to be subversive, associated with communists, or to have communist ties are avoided and/or ostracized)
  • Marital trouble (increasing strains in a character’s relationship with her husband)
  • Infidelity (accusations; no true infidelity occurs)

If I have forgotten anything, or if you have specific concerns or questions, please feel free to reach out through my contact form so I can help.

Daughters of Victory Content Warnings

For those interested, I’d like to list the content warnings for DAUGHTERS OF VICTORY out of respect for my readers. This story takes place during dark, difficult times in history, which involved exploring subject matter that might be triggering for some. Below you will find mild but vague spoilers, none of which will interfere with your reading experience. The following is not listed in any particular order.

Content Warnings:

  • Strong language
  • Strong violence/gore
  • Death/murder (gun violence, stabbing, poisoning, mention of mass murder including children and elderly, mention of death in fire)
  • Politics/political parties (imperialism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, Bolshevism, fascism, Nazism)
  • Anti-imperialism
  • Arson/minor burns sustained from fire
  • Threat of harm/death to child/children
  • Classism
  • Racial/ethnic slurs
  • Imprisonment/confinement
  • Antisemitism
  • Attempted rape/threats of rape (one scene against a character witnessed by protagonist and reader; attempts and threats made against protagonist and witnessed by reader; implied rape and murder mentioned)
  • Torture (beating, cutting, chemical assault to damage vision)
  • Brief sexual content/nudity (mild)
  • Panic attacks/anxiety/PTSD (mild)
  • Abandonment/feelings of neglect/parental neglect
  • Mention of siege (including mention of starvation and rumors of cannibalism)
  • Physical/psychological attack against visually impaired elder
  • Illness/death from poisoning (including vomiting, fever, rash, weakness)
  • Toxic relationships/friendships
  • Pregnancy out of wedlock
  • Emotional abuse
  • Hallucinations 
  • Corpses
  • Gaslighting
  • Desecration of corpse (mentioned)
  • Intoxication/alcohol
  • Smoking
  • Poisoning
  • War (mentioned)
  • Sexism
  • Ableism
  • Vision loss/visual impairment

If you read the novel and discover anything I’ve left out, please feel free to reach out via my contact form so I can update this list accordingly.

Happy Birthday, The Last Checkmate!

The Last Checkmate covers

October 19th, 2022 is here, which means today I’m wishing my debut novel, THE LAST CHECKMATE, a very happy first birthday! I can’t believe it’s been an entire year since this book went out into the world – a fantastic, beautiful, humbling, emotional year. I wanted to share a few highlights:

Foreign Editions

Within its first year, THE LAST CHECKMATE has published in multiple countries and languages, including but not limited to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, Holland, Slovakia, Poland, and more! Publishing a book is special enough, but to see so many different covers and translations and to have readers from all over the world reading my work and reaching out to me has been so special and humbling. Truly something I never expected.

The Audiobook

Yes, the audiobook gets a designated shoutout because I have a little story to share: I’ve been an avid audiobook consumer for years. One of my favorite narrators is award-winning narrator Saskia Maarleveld, who has narrated hundreds of books and so many works of historical fiction, including books by Kate Quinn, Madeline Martin, Christine Wells, Jennifer Chiaverini, and more. Every time I imagined who my audiobook narrator might be, she came to mind, even though I was certain it would never happen. Well, guess who narrated the audiobook for THE LAST CHECKMATE? Saskia Maarleveld! And her performance absolutely blew me away. Even better? I got to interview her! I’m part of an online historical fiction chat group called @HFChitChat, and Saskia was gracious enough to chat with me and my co-hosts about her work as an audiobook narrator. She’s an absolutely delightful person, and if you missed the interview, you can watch it here for free (don’t mind me fangirling and talking way too fast… I was excited, okay?!). If you haven’t listened to her narration of THE LAST CHECKMATE, please do – I promise you won’t regret it; it’s an entirely different experience than reading in print. I will be forever grateful that she lent her breathtaking skill to my work.

Interviews and Events

Publishing a novel comes with so much publicity, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to do some incredible things this past year! I took over the HarperCollins and Book Club Girl Instagram accounts, saw my book in airports all over the world, had my book chosen as the monthly book club pick for various book clubs, including radio host Delilah‘s book club. Most recently, I had the incredible opportunity to be on the cover of Access Magazine, which was such an unforgettable experience! I never thought I’d get to add “cover girl” to my resume, and I had so much fun taking pictures and interviewing for the article! I’ve spoken at schools, churches, and universities, I’ve interviewed with podcasts and radio, I’ve written articles both locally and internationally. Most fun of all, I think, has been getting to participate in book clubs. I love chatting with readers and hearing your thoughts on the story, and to those of you who have been gracious enough to invite me to your book clubs, thank you! If you need book club questions, you can find them here – heads up that they do contain spoilers!

What’s Next?

I’m glad you asked! Within this first year of publication, another wonderful thing happened: I wrote another book! It’s called DAUGHTERS OF VICTORY and follows two women through the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union during World War II. You can read more about it here and preorder your copy from your retailer of choice, or grab a signed copy from my local indie – they ship! I might not be a debut author anymore, but preorders are hugely important for every book, so I would greatly appreciate your support. The book releases on January 24th, 2023 from William Morrow, and I’m so excited to share it with you.

Thank you!

Finally, I have to say this year wouldn’t have been possible without you: the readers, the book bloggers, the bookstagrammers, the authors, the social media influencers, the friends and family and supporters. As with any career and anything you’re passionate about, there are high and low points, big emotions, and lots of struggles – it doesn’t make us any less grateful for the good, but the bad is just as real, too, and can certainly affect you. I’ve highlighted the highs in this post, but there have definitely been lows, of course. Such is life. But when I look back on this year, I’m grateful even for those hard moments because they remind me not to take any of this for granted, and it makes me even more appreciative of you, in particular, because your kind reviews, love, and support are what make all the hard times worth it. It’s thanks to you that, an entire year later, people are still finding my book in stores and libraries and sharing it with their friends. It’s thanks to you that I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming an author. And it’s thanks to you that I get to keep doing this job every single day. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the love you’ve shown me and THE LAST CHECKMATE. I hope you’ll stick around for many more books to come.

The Last Checkmate Content Warnings

Out of respect for my readers, I feel it is important to list content warnings for my debut novel, THE LAST CHECKMATE. This book takes place during World War II, so some of the material will be difficult to read. It was certainly difficult to research and write. It was important to me to stay true to the history and experiences while also remaining sensitive to readers who might be affected by such content. The following contains mild but vague spoilers.

Content Warnings:

  • Strong language (in multiple languages)
  • Strong violence/gore
  • On-the-page physical and psychological abuse/torture (one scene includes a strip search down to undergarments against a female minor)
  • Ableism, ageism, and sexism
  • antisemitism and anti-Polonism (including racial/ethnic slurs)
  • Pro-Nazi rhetoric
  • Mild burns (cigarette burns inflicted for the purpose of torture)
  • Beatings, including floggings and severe scarring
  • Concentration/extermination camps
  • Forced nudity
  • Mention of rape/sexual assault/prostitution (not witnessed by the reader)
  • One scene of sexual assault/attempted rape witnessed by the reader (rape of a female minor is intended but not carried out, and the scene is handled as delicately as possible)
  • Discussion of conception through rape (assault not witnessed by the reader)
  • Dehumanization
  • Tattooing for the purpose of incarceration/dehumanization
  • Murder (including children, though children’s murders are not witnessed by the reader)
  • Gas chambers and crematoria (mentioned)
  • Corpses and mass murder
  • Starvation/emaciation
  • Smoking
  • Arson (mentioned but not witnessed by the reader)
  • Severe illness (typhus and mention of dysentery)
  • Hypothermia/freezing to death
  • Drinking/intoxication
  • Depression
  • Suicidal thoughts and actions
  • Severe PTSD
  • Gaslighting

Hi, Friends!

What an honor to have you reading my very first blog post! I’m not sure this counts as a blog post so much as a brief hello, but I promise to bring you lots of exciting content in the future. First and foremost, this site is so I can keep you up-to-date as I chase this crazy dream job called writing. It’s been such a fun, thrilling, unexpected journey, and I’m looking forward to sharing more.

Be sure to connect with me on social media! You can find me most often on Twitter and Instagram, where I post about my writing, current projects, and all things book and life related. If there’s anything specific you’d like to see from me through this blog, questions you have, or topics you’d be interested in learning more about, leave a comment or use the form on my Contact page to get in touch. I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for stopping by, and I will be back soon!