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