trigger warnings
The Ash Girl
Out of respect and care for those who carry trauma or may not feel safe reading certain types of material, I offer this guide to the ‘darker’ material as it comes up in The Ash Girl. Please CONTACT ME if you think I should flag something that you came across and it didn’t occur to me to do. We all have our filters and mine are limited!
Chapter 5
Reference to female circumcision rituals for young girls
Character with suicidal thoughts (resolved by end of chap)
Holocaust imagery
Chapter 6
Graphic depiction of childbirth
Graphic depiction of female circumcision ritual on a young girl
Suggestion of infanticide
Character with suicidal thoughts (its metaphoric)
Chapter 7
Graphic depiction of animals mutilated by poachers
Chapter 8
Graphic depiction of a rape and homicide (mythic). A comment by my most trusted reader/editor for what it’s worth: “You dealt with the rape and homicide perfectly!! I was prepared to be put off by detail that wasn’t necessary. Sparse. Meaningful. Perfect.”
Father abandonment distress
Chapter 9
Reference to holocaust atrocities
One use of profanity (f-word)
Chapter X
Brief description of death of an animal by bow and arrow
Chapter XI
Scene of boyhood initiation with scarification—no detailed description
Two uses of profanity
Chapter XII
Description of an obstetric fistula’s symptoms
Brief descriptions of sexual activities
Chapter XIII
Description of a raven scavenging a human heart
Description of a metaphoric death (could be construed, mistakenly, as a literal suicide)