TW/CW: Sex, sex work, sexual assault, slavery, murder, assault

RATING: 3.5/5

REVIEW: The Wolf Den is the story of Amara, a young Greek woman who has been sold into slavery as a prostitute in ancient Pompeii.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The subject matter is pretty serious, and so is the story, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What did get to me is that this book is very slow going. It’s more about the daily lives of the sex workers than about any plot. While it’s well written and I didn’t necessarily get bored, I did keep looking for the plot and not finding it. A little bit of action happened at the very end, but I wish it would have been spread throughout the book a little bit more.

I enjoyed it enough that I will give the second book (I think it’s a trilogy) a chance, but I do hope that more happens. ( )

Once one get past the setting - whores in a Roman brothel, this is an intriguing tale of girl power, with the heroine making her way in the world, very much against the odds. Good characters and period detail - whether entirely accurate who can say (or cares?), but all believable and involving. ( )

Utterly engrossing! From the first page, we enter the life of the enslaved Greek prostitute, Amara, as she navigates the horrors of the Pompeiian brothel where she is captive. Harper so skillfully brings that world to life - really looking forward to book 2. ( )

Set in AD 74, Elodie Harper’s The Wolf Den is the story of Amara , a prostitute in the lupanar of Pompeii. Amara was not born into slavery. The only child of a Greek doctor in the city of Aphidnai (“Twelfth city of Attica, once the home of Helen of Troy”), she is an educated and intelligent girl whose fortunes were reversed after her father's demise. Sold as a house slave by her mother, she was forced into the life of a concubine before being sold to Felix, who changes her name to Amara and puts her to work as a prostitute in his brothel, The Wolf Den, in the Ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

“Nobody in Pompeii has ever dared ask her this. It’s the last remnant of privacy, of self, that a slave who was once freeborn possesses. Their real name.”

She becomes one of the “she-wolves” subject to the brutality and perversion of the men she is required to entertain in the course of her enslavement. Her clients vary from those she picks up in the street to those whose affluent parties she is made to attend. She shares a complicated dynamic with Felix and a sisterhood with the other prostitutes owned by Felix , especially Dido to whom she feels the closest. Despite the petty jealousies and rivalry that crops up from time to time, the she-wolves are a close-knit group who share their traumas, joy, pain, hopes and dreams. They support each other in doing whatever they need to do to survive. Amara dreams of a day when she would save enough from her earnings to buy back her freedom. Even amid the humiliation, pain, and heartache she endures , she relies on her instincts and intelligence to create and utilize opportunities that would bring her closer to her goals. The narrative follows Amara in her attempt to evolve from a victim of circumstance to a resourceful woman who rewrites her own story in a world that is not kind to women in her position (or women, in general) and where most men would rather exploit than assist and kindness is hard to find. Will she be able to find her way out of this life and away from Felix's manipulation ? What (or who) would she have to lose or sacrifice in order to fulfill her dreams?

“She takes her sprig in both hands, crushing it to release the scent. May men fall to me as this offering falls to you, Greatest Aphrodite. May I know love’s power, if never its sweetness. Amara drops her mangled garland on the ever-growing pile of heaped offerings from the desperate whores of Pompeii.”

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper is an exquisitely written novel that blends historical fact (The Lupanar of Pompeii can be found in the ruins of the Ancient Roman city of Pompeii) and fiction, with an absorbing narrative and strong characterization. The realistic depiction of the characters and their relationships and the vivid imagery used to describe the daily lives of the people, the streets and shops in the vibrant city, the religious festivities and the frescos and graffiti in the lupanar transports you to Amara’s world. I enjoyed the references to Greek and Roman mythology (especially in the context of religious beliefs of that period). I felt invested in Amara’s story from the very first page and rooted for her as she attempted to navigate her way through the challenges on her journey, rejoicing in her small victories and sharing in her pain over her numerous setbacks. However, this is not a book I would recommend to everybody. It is not easy to read about the sexual and physical violence that these women have to endure despite it being integral to the plot of the novel. To the author’s credit, she has exercised considerable restraint and has emphasized the cruelty of the acts rather than go into unnecessary graphic descriptions of the same. Overall, this is a compelling novel that I found hard to put down and a story that will stay with me for a long time. I am glad that the author is not done sharing Amara’s story and eagerly look forward to the next installment in The Wolf Den Trilogy.

“Being free. What does it feel like?” What did it feel like to be Timarete? Amara’s past life blazes into her mind’s eye, with all its love, innocence and hope. “When you see a bird flying,” she says, “that moment when it chooses to swoop lower or soar higher, when there’s nothing but air stopping it, that’s what freedom feels like.” ( )

This is a GOOD Book. Brutal but enjoyable. ( )