Excellent

Brilliantly written, wonderful characters, great plotting, sparkling dialogue. Weighty subject matter but told with superb energy and life.

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Totally engrossing tale of life in Pompeii

This was one of those audiobooks that draws you in to its world. It's a wonderfully narrated tale of the lives of prostitutes in a brothel in Pompeii. The women have contrasting stories of how they became slaves but they share the dream that they will someday be able to free themselves. I loved the relationships between the women and the way the author has brought to life the characters and streets of Pompeii. Really looking forward to listening to rest of the series.

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Harrowing but Engaging

An interesting story about the brutal life of a slave woman living within a brothel fighting for her freedom. The author navigated the nuances of showing Amara's (and the other brothel slaves') inner strength and drive to survive while showing the male dominated setting of the brothel effectively. A harrowing tale but an engaging read.

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A really enjoyable listening experience.

I have really enjoyed listening to this story, couldn't stop listening until the end. The author, characters and narrator were great.

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Classic

This is excellent. There really is a collection of great novels recently based on the classics. This is set around Pompeii and is a quiet drama, mining what life would be like for a slave in the years before it was destroyed. It is almost like a thriller at the end and is well setup for a sequel.

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3 people found this helpful

Brings ancient Pompeii to life

I’ve long been a fan of fiction set in the Roman Empire and I was happy to discover this book. As I was nearing the end I checked to see if Elodie Harper had other books on audible, and was thrilled to find that this was the first in a trilogy.

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What a story

Utterly enthralling and heart rending, the women brothel slaves are characters whose stories you really care about. Can't wait for the next book.

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Couldn’t put it down

Read it in just over a day, staying up all night to finish it.
I think it’s important to first and foremost point out that this is not an erotic book and highlights many of the horrendous experiences that were had. The content was at times graphic and sensitive, it was done so in a way that it showed how normalised violence and fear was as a part of Amaras life.
Harper clearly did her research and it was fascinating to know more about Pompeii and what life could have been like from a slaves point of view.
The writing was done so in a way that it was accessible for the reader to understand and interpret from a modern perspective whilst also learning about the daily life and culture of a slave in Pompeii during that time period.
The narration was perfect, allowing me to become even more attached to characters or adding to my disgust for others. I would love to hear more of Beamish’s work.

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2 people found this helpful

Evokes the atmosphere of Ancient Pompei

Hard Times, hard lives of the slaves of Pompei brought to life with excellent narration. Wonderful story of the struggle of day to day life in the Wolf Den

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love it

Very well written, powerful history and is a really gripping tale.
This book has grabbed me since the first page.

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