The Wolf Den

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

For an immersive journey into the ancient Roman empire, look no further – but beware, it's a harrowing experience. Harper lifts off the obscuring veils through which we look back at Rome, as the source of our systems of government and justice, of pompous prose and marble statues, and shows how degrading and brutal it really was for the female slaves at the bottom of the hierarchy, the town prostitutes of Pompeii.

The lives of five of these “she-wolves” are traced through the course of several months, centering on Amara, an intelligent doctor's daughter from Attica fallen on hard times. Each one is richly characterized and human, showing the strength of the human core that survives in such difficult circumstances, looking for love and connection, even when sometimes it is cruelly betrayed or cannot be expressed.

It's inevitable that some will fall into despair and be lost, some will be victims of the unjust who reign supreme, but some will rise through their refusal to be defined by the bullies who exploit them. For those who wonder how it is to read a book based on institutionalized sexual violence, I found that Harper struck a fine balance between exposing the realities of the women's lives, and leaving much of the detail respectfully off-stage. She also made marvelous use of the visual evidence left from Pompeii in her descriptions, adding authentic atmosphere that did not scream “historical research” (though it whispered it at times). A brief but crucial appearance by Pliny the Elder is similarly a touch that adds historical weight, without feeling gratuitous.

This is apparently the first in a trilogy, and I'll certainly be looking forward to the next book, and to the ultimate fate of the she-wolves of Pompeii.