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A review by cheyenneconrady
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
4.0
Spoiler alert, The Wolf Den is not for the faint of heart. However, it was for me.
This book is a violent, bleak, and at times heartwarming tale told from the life of a woman living in a brothel in ancient Pompeii. I didn’t have any more of an idea than that what I was getting myself into when I started it, for which I’m glad. Typically, stories with a lot of violence toward women are difficult for me, and preconceived notions would have deterred me from entering Amara’s world.
In retrospect, this is not just a story of ancient Italy. This is a story of women surviving, grieving, loving, making mistakes and choosing what they can, when they can. The tone does tend toward modernity more than I usually like in a historical fiction book, but these themes don’t only belong thousands of years in the past, do they?
I’m thrilled to find out this is the first of a trilogy, and look forward to spending more time in Pompeii this month. A dark story in an ancient world is perfect for fall’s season in my books!
A final note about this book — I appreciate being faced with the lives of people from all social castes in the ancient world. It makes my stomach churn when I see Pompeii reduced constantly to its tragic end, without any consideration for the full, complex, beautiful, difficult lives people led there before they died. I was glad to see something else in this novel.
Many trigger warnings (Google if needed), but I did enjoy this read.
This book is a violent, bleak, and at times heartwarming tale told from the life of a woman living in a brothel in ancient Pompeii. I didn’t have any more of an idea than that what I was getting myself into when I started it, for which I’m glad. Typically, stories with a lot of violence toward women are difficult for me, and preconceived notions would have deterred me from entering Amara’s world.
In retrospect, this is not just a story of ancient Italy. This is a story of women surviving, grieving, loving, making mistakes and choosing what they can, when they can. The tone does tend toward modernity more than I usually like in a historical fiction book, but these themes don’t only belong thousands of years in the past, do they?
I’m thrilled to find out this is the first of a trilogy, and look forward to spending more time in Pompeii this month. A dark story in an ancient world is perfect for fall’s season in my books!
A final note about this book — I appreciate being faced with the lives of people from all social castes in the ancient world. It makes my stomach churn when I see Pompeii reduced constantly to its tragic end, without any consideration for the full, complex, beautiful, difficult lives people led there before they died. I was glad to see something else in this novel.
Many trigger warnings (Google if needed), but I did enjoy this read.