The Wolf Den is a book about the enslaved women living in one of Pompeii's infamous brothels. Amara, the main character, was originally from a well-off family, but when her father passes away, she's sold off into slavery to a man she hates. Even with her loss of freedom, her spirit remains unbroken and she plans for greater things in life.

First let me say that Amara is a strong and resilient character. She's been handed a pretty rough card, but she does not give up. When given every reason to disconnect with the world, she instead leans into the women she's enslaved with and we really get to see their bond. There is beauty in those relationships and even as the story weaves through very dark themes, it's reassuring to see these women caring for each other.

I appreciated that this book did not shy away from examining dark themes. The story is about forced prostitution, enslavement, and human trafficking, so there are lots of brutal moments. I felt myself cringing and empathizing with the women at various points throughout the novel and while at moments it was difficult to read, it was also realistic considering the setting. I'm glad that the horrors weren't white-washed to make it more palatable.

While this book is very character driven, I did struggle a bit with the pacing. I found it to be a bit slower than I would've liked and at some points found it a fair bit of effort to push through sections. I think a bit of editing and trimming might've helped this a bit.

Additionally, I felt that the way the characters spoke to be incongruent with the time frame that the book is supposed to be set in. It's not that I need it to be completely antiquated language, but it feels odd to hear characters from so far back great each other with "Hey!" I just wish the dialogue would've been framed in a way that helped to immerse the reader in the era.

All in all, this was a solid read, but not the most revolutionary book of my life. It is an interesting look into a group of women who are often forgotten about and I appreciated it for that alone. With an engaging character like Amara, it's a good enough to warrant reading for yourself.

Rating: 3.5/5

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first, I wasn’t sure if a book about a house of prostitution in Ancient Pompeii was going to be a worthy read. It took a beat or so for me to connect with the characters and their struggles, but once I did the pages turned much faster!

Aside from probing sad class distinctions and impoverished circumstances that these women (and some men) endure . . . this novel is actually about courage, survival, friendship, and perseverance. I believe this would make an excellent group discussion book pick. As a lover of historical fiction, I would’ve liked a few more immersive descriptions to fully capture the setting, but that’s a personal preference and I know the research process can be quite difficult.

Overall this story was enough to make me curious about the future installments to be released in this series.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Apollo for an advanced copy of The Wolf Den for my unbiased evaluation.  3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not since I read 'Circe' have I been so fully immersed in a book set in the ancient world. I absolutely loved this first instalment of this series and cannot wait to read the rest.

Set in a brothel in Pompeii, and beginning in Ad 74, the story tracks the life of one of the prostitutes, Amara. The daughter of a once prosperous Greek doctor, Amara now shares rooms with her fellow prostitutes, subject to the whim of her mercurial pimp, Felix. Amara, who is intelligent and industrious, struggles in this book to use what smarts she has to escape from slavery and comes to understand what she will sacrifice for freedom.

Everything about this book was enjoyable - the characters well-drawn, the descriptions of Ancient Pompeii evocative and the emotion fully relatable.

As we start in AD 74 and Pompeii was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius' eruption in AD 79 (sorry if that's a spoiler!) I anticipate a thrilling conclusion to this tale and am looking forward to reading the next two books.

The tragic life of Amara. Once a beloved daughter of a doctor now sold to Pompeii's broth by her own mother. Witness her spirits glowing with hope even during the darkest days of her life in the wold den.

Amara has to survive through hell but she only sees freedom as her goal. Even if it’s sacrificing her close ones or her happiness. She’s ready to fight to be a free woman again but everything comes at a price. Felix, the Wolf Den owner is not just brutal but highly manipulative and makes the girls life miserable. His character is very brilliantly depicted and will make you worried.

With multiple characters from the start, instances of foul language and repetitive instances of abuse the story can get a little overwhelming but it carries a greater message. It is painful, captivating and heartwarming at the same time.

Brutally honest and beautifully written capturing the historical truth and the ancient history of such places. The first one in the trilogy, I’m eagerly looking forward to the next one to find out where it leads Amara.

November 2021 might just be my best reading month ever, because every single I've read this month just fucking. slaps! The Wolf Den is simply incredible, continuing and adding on all the wonderful books I have read this month, and becoming one of the best books I read this year.

I thought Harper's writing, first and foremost, was extremely engaging, as it really pulled the reader into the story, creating a complicated, yet alive, setting in a foreign time and place. She was smart to include certain well known figures of the time in her writing, like Pliny the Elder, who both anchored the story into a real, once-existing place and reminded the readers that what they are reading is not pure fiction, but was once the reality for many many women.

Speaking of women... Her women were simply fascinating. All of them. If I could reach into the pages of the book and hug each and every one of them, I would. I was especially fond of Amara, our protagonist, as she had a "rougher" side as well, occasionally being ruthless, cunning, and manipulative, all in order to survive. I thought it was very refreshing to see such a protagonist, especially since her actions seemed like a natural reaction to the circumstances she found herself in. I also really liked the fact that the she-wolves, despite experiencing the same reality, did not react to it in the same, or even a similar, way, showing the depth of Harper's characters as well as the characters' own complex and unique backgrounds. I found the women to be very realistic and well-portrayed, and the bond and love they seemed to have for one another absolutely broke my heart.

I think the ending left me slightly unsatisfied, in a way that only a book you wish would never end can do. Realistically, I understand that there was no other way to finish the story, and the very last paragraph was so satisfying it made me stop crying - and yes, I was crying by the end, which I haven't done in a long, long time because of a book. Basically, it was a great ending, but I wish we got some more closure for some characters - and yes, this is me begging for a sequel.

Overall, I absolutely adored this book, mostly because I genuinely found myself immersed in its pages, caring for its characters, smiling and crying alongside them. Highly, highly recommended.

The Wolf Den was one of those books that created such a powerful and fascinating world I got completely lost in it. I just didn't want to leave it and found myself slowing down more and more as I got closer to the end ( I'm hoping there will be a sequel!)
Elodie Harper has managed to create a story that we can believe in and feel we understand, even though it is so different from our own.
The Wolf Den is centred around life in one of Pompeii's sordid brothels where Harper reimagines the lives of women who have long been overlooked. Harper shows us that even in the most desperate and brutal of situations there can be friendship and love, but she also lays bare the depths people can sink to in order to save themselves.
The characters are so well-rounded that I found myself caring about almost all of them, sometimes even the 'baddies'!
Harper has blended the real details of historical accuracy with some great storytelling and a wonderful lead character who does whatever she needs to do to survive the awful hand that life has dealt her.
This was a book I could not put down, I recommend you go treat yourself to a read.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest reviews

The Wolf Den is a novel set in ancient Pompeii. Amara is a Greek woman who was sold by her family to be a house slave and has ended up as a prostitute in a brothel. We get to see the realities of how women were treated in those times and how the craftiest ones could find ways to slip into a slightly better life for themselves. But the truth of the reality of women of the age. Nothing new here if you've read other works about the time, but there is the shock value of the brothel setting and the brutality there. If it's your first snapshot of this time, it's an aggressive place to start.

This one is just a slightly cruder version of Kate Quinn's The Mistress of Rome. Read if you enjoyed The Silence of the Girls or A Thousand Ships.
Thanks to Netgalley for approval to read this one, although I had purchased a copy before I received that approval. All opinions above are my own.

Wow just *mind blows*! I loved this book, now I had me time I was able to finally sit down and devour this book.. devour it I did. The characters portrayal is so well written that i felt the pain and hardships they go through, I really rooted for them. The story is sometimes dark but regardless is a fantastic read. Such a very emotional but raw book that I really would recommend to my fellow book reader friends! I will be really looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this excellent book in exchange for my honest review.

The Wolf Den reimagines the lives of enslaved women in Pompeii’s brothel with the main character of Amara.

I believe the story is character-driven, which I like, but I struggled to connect with any of the characters. As the story begins, it stars with a lot of names and it’s not easy to follow who is who, especially when so little is given out about those characters. You can’t attach any characteristics to a name. It takes a while before anything is revealed about Amara, and it’s not much.

I believe the strength of the story is the support that the women give each other. The atmosphere of the place that surrounds the women and their circumstances is there. However, the sense of the place of Pompeii itself is missing or the snippets that are given are not enough to feel the sense of the place. It is missing the authenticity of a place as a whole. Pompeii was not the only ancient place filled with brothels, so the story being heavily concentrated on this subject doesn’t make the place authentic.

It seems as the story is driven by what women do, making the progression of the story slow and repetitive. Due to the subject matter and the story being heavily concentrated on it, the story feels overwhelming, plus there is quite a lot of the foul language.

With the story being London Times Bestseller, I’m obviously in the minority and highly recommend checking other reviews.

This book certainly delivered on setting the atmosphere to be like that of HBO's Rome.

The Wolf Den follows the story of Amara, once a free woman and now enslaved in a brothel in Pompeii. She is a clever and determined character who is set on escaping her horrid servitude and regaining her lost freedom.

This not a fast-paced read, but it's well-written, and by the end of the book, you won't mind the journey it took to read and finish it. We see Amara's day-to-day life here, and that of her fellow she-wolves. The book really takes you to ancient Pompeii, and it was interesting to see life there through their eyes.

All in all a solid read, and I highly recommend it for fans of the aforementioned show, and those with an attachment to history in this time period (pre-volcanic eruption).

I give this 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sterling Publishing for the e-arc!

Wow. Just....wow. This is an incredible book, both in terms of its subject matter and its characterizations. There are no easy answers in this book, but there's a lot of depth. I finished it two days ago and I'm still thinking about it. In fact, I chose to read a nonfiction after this, because I didn't want to disturb my emotional connection with these characters just yet. A powerful book. I recommend it.

I really enjoyed The Wolf Den. I thought the author did a wonderful job of bringing these women to life and showing us not just the dark parts of these brothel workers lives, but the beauty they can find in friendship as well. I listened to an interview with the author and was fascinated by the graffiti that is found in Pompeii and loved how she incorporated that into the beginning of some of the chapters.

I devoured this book! The characters feel so real, you root for them, your heart breaks for them..wonderful read.

When I started this book, I was afraid that if would be too dark for me. As it follows Amara, a young woman who's a slave in a lupanar, I was expecting some dark moments. And indeed, this book has some dark passages, but I love the fact that the scenes aren't too detailed. Often, authors feel the need to describe sexual assault or rape for several paragraphs, which can be triggering for me. Here, we understand what happens, without having to read every single second of the encounter.

This story is sometimes dark, and the characters have complex relationships between themselves, with their master, with their life. The story is told with care, and well written. I'm impatient to read the next books in this trilogy.


Thank you netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE WOLF DEN is a gripping, emotional, raw novel telling the story of women often overlooked - brothel workers, or she-wolves, in Pompeii. At times this book was hard to read- Harper did not shy away from vivid, realistic descriptions of violence- but this lent a realism and grit to the novel. I was gripped by Amara’s story- by Dido and Victoria and their other friends and acquaintances.

This book is the first in a trilogy about Amara and her life in Pompeii. Elodie Harper demonstrated her remarkable talent with this novel- I will eagerly await the follow up to THE WOLF DEN.

I kindly received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have been wanting to read this book for ages, and I am so grateful to Netgalley and the Publisher! THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE. So well written, the characters were real and sympathetic and this book does not shy away from the real lives of "lupas" in the ancient world. I loved how the author portrayed these women as strong and their relationships as important and vital, even though they were slaves. It is a feminist book while being truthful to history. I cant recommend this highly enough!

The best thing this book has going for it is its candidness. This does not shy away from the blunt, violent, explicit living conditions of a brothel slave. I think it would have done a disservice to the story and characters had it been sugarcoated. But in the midst of that brutal honesty, this is also a story about friendship and sisterhood, rising after hardships, the value of humanity and self-worth, and the price of freedom. Amara is definitely a character worth rooting for.

The thing that bothered me is how modern the story feels. While I do want accuracy with historical fiction, I don't expect the writing to necessarily reflect the time period (i.e. a story set in the 1500s doesn't need to be written in old Shakespearean English). But with this, if it hadn't been explicitly stated that this is set in first century Pompeii, I would have never believed it. There are just so many things about the writing and characters that make this feel like a contemporary romance, rather than historical fiction. Every day events, modern language, the characters behaving as if they were living in today's world. Maybe it's meant to make the story more accessible, but it often took me out of the moment. There are also a few things that are left unresolved at the end and I'm personally not a fan of open endings..

But I did enjoy the story for the most part. I think there are some pretty relevant themes and a good commentary on the role of women. I would be willing to read more books by this author, especially the next book in this series!

this was relevant, raw and refreshing. i love how writers have began to write from a woman's perspective in tales like this - it's necessary and essential and was done well. i would definitely pick up other books from this author.