‘The House with the Golden Door’ is the second in Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den trilogy. It tells the story of Amara, who begins life in first book as a slave forced to work in a brothel in ancient Pompeii. In ‘The House with the Golden Door’, she becomes a courtesan and yet is still hounded by the man who once owned her and who threatens to divulge her ‘secret’ to her patron.
Elodie’s descriptions are so evocative, you can almost hear, smell and see Pompeii as it used to be. She brings Pompeii to life.
To get the best of ‘The House with the Golden Door’, I would suggest beginning with The Wolf Den. But, there are enough recaps that allow you to enjoy without having done so.
Thank you to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for my ARC

I loved the first book in the series; The Wolf Den and the sequel didn’t disappoint. An evocative and beautifully written story that takes place in a vivid historical setting. I really felt a sense of danger with the situation Amara had found herself in and found it hard to put it down!

This was an incredible book! I loved The Wolf Den, and this is such an explosive sequel, I devoured it in a couple of days. It was an interesting shift from Amara's relationships and decisions from the first book, this one focuses a lot more on her romantic relationship with a character I did not see coming. We also see Amara's relationships with the other women from Wolf Den become more frail and start to fall apart, which was heartbreaking. While I love Amara's cunning and drive to do and get what she wants, I found it so hard in this book to understand and justify some of her decisions, and the little protection she gave herself against things that would absolutely come back to haunt her. I spent most of the book wishing she would be more careful and composed, which was a bit frustrating, and the reason why this was not a 5 star read for me.

The world is built SO brilliantly, I felt immersed into Pompeii just a few years before the explosion, and the author does a fantastic job of making this feel well-researched but not info-dumping - her research is added seamlessly into the story. I really love this series and can't wait for the next book!

I just have no words, apart from this book is honestly brutal. Elodie Harper definitely brought something in this book as she did with book 1. My heart bled for the characters, and I honestly felt that Harper did a brilliant way of showcasing the hardship that these ladies and men went thought.

Free from servitude but is Amara truly free? Amara enjoys life as a free woman but is still living under rule of the men and her past isn’t going to let her go willingly.

Elodie Harper is a master at transporting the reader back to an ancient world. I was fully gripped from the first page until the conclusion. I cannot wait for the next in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

A fantastic sequel to The Wolf Den, still taking inspiration from Roman writings and graffiti found at Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Amara now has a patron and she's free, not a slave, and living in the house with the golden door, rented for her by Rufus. To be honest, there's not much more one can say without spoilers. We welcome back some characters from The Wolf Den and see how they all move onwards and change, and it is a chance to get to know more better.

I feel this lines up the next one as the ending is rather a new beginning, the next chapter in Amara's life, and I do look forward to it.

I am not a fan of the present tense for fiction, it seems the fashion right now and though I can see some of the benefits of using it, shifting the tenses forward giving you, maybe, more room for looking backwards, it doesn't feel natural. Maybe that's because, when I tried it at school, I was told off for not doing it right! Maybe my teachers weren't ready for it.

This cant be read as a stand alone and to try would deny you the joy of the first book.

This is the sequel to The Wolf Den (one of my favourite reads of 2021!) and after some bad luck with other follow ups this year, I was so delighted that The House with the Golden Door fulfilled all my expectations and is a favourite of 2022.

I loved rejoining Amara and following more of her life - in this sequel, we get to delve even further into Roman life as we see more of Pompeii’s underworld as well as more of its aristocracy.

Just as with The Wolf Den, there were some moments here that really tugged at my heartstrings - there are all kinds of love in this book and I think Harper does a beautiful job of placing all of them on the page. Whether it’s romantic, familial, or deep platonic love between these characters, I felt absolutely transported by it.

This one came out back in May, so hopefully it’s not too spoilery for me to say that I’m so intrigued by the change in Amara’s life (and location!) that occurs at the end of this novel, and I absolutely can’t wait for the final book of the trilogy.

I highly recommend this one if you want to get swept away in some beautiful historical fiction!

I adored Harper's first novel, The Wolf Den and this follow up was equally as enthralling and heartbreaking. As the fortunes of the prostitutes in the Wolf Den become ever more precarious as they rise in the social ranks due to attentions from powerful men, no one can be trusted and I truly was gripped by ever page.

Thank you so much to Head of Zeus and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ rounded up to 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed The House with my he Golden Door and am looking forward to the final book in this series.

In this instalment we see Amara out of the Wolf Den and now looked after by her patron. In this book Amara starts to make some rather stupid decisions and acts without thinking. This was at times incredibly frustrating as we know her to be a very intelligent and educated person. However, it is perhaps understandable after gaining freedom that she behaves recklessly.

I will say, Britannica is the only one with any sense, she was our main source of reason in this book. I hope we see more of her. I also hope Amara becomes less trusting and more ruthless.

This book was absolutely incredible, especially as a sequel to one of my favourite books.

Amara is a brilliantly written character and I love how she didn't compromise her values despite her change in circumstances from the wolf den to her new house. She is so fierce and brave and what I really enjoyed about her character was that she was allowed to handle the trauma that she received in the first book and from being enslaved whilst navigating life as a freedwoman and a courtesan. The other women she surrounded herself with, such as Julia and Drusilla are equally unique characters and I really hope that we see them again in the next book or similarly vibrant characters. Rufus and Felix were characters I really hated by the end of the book, I already intensely disliked Felix but this book just cinched it for me. I so desperately want Amara to have a happy ending but at this point, I wouldn't put it past Elodie Harper to make me cry so hard at the end of her arc in the next book

The plot was just brilliant and like the first book, it followed Amara on her journey to raise herself out of the wolf den. Not only is she now trying to do this with Rufus' patronage for herself but she attempts to do the same to some of her old friends. With carrying degrees of success and drama that add to the plot because oh my days this story was just absolutely incredible and had me on tenterhooks from the first page. Of course, I was already invested from book one but this just had me even more attached to the story of Amara and I am so excited, and afraid, to see where it goes for everyone but especially Amara after everything that went down in this book.

The writing was absolutely incredible. Not only does Elodie Harper manage to weave such a beautiful story but she also manages to create such a perfect world for it to exist. The way that she describes Pompeii and everything that happens is absolutely perfect. Seriously this book is just brilliant.

Truly loved this book. An excellent follow on to the Wolf Den and I can't believe I have to wait so long for the next instalment. Harper is a transportive writer - I felt like I was right there in Pompeii with Amara. I particularly loved the development and expolration of relationships (both romantic and not) within this book. I'd whole-heartedly recommend.

I absolutely adored Elodie's first title 'The wolf Den' and as soon as I found out there would be a sequel I know I had to have it! Absolutely loved this book!

I was really excited to read this sequel to The Wolf Den and learn more about Amara's story. I found the first book a well-researched albeit gruelling read and was curious to see where the story would go now that Amara has gained at least a little agency. We find her in the eponymous 'House with the Golden Door' where she is being kept as a concubine for her patron Rufus.

I didn't find this book as difficult to read as the first one as Amara is an undoubtedly better position. however she faces struggles of a different kind and still has to try to outfox her old master Felix.

The story itself is good but what really brings Pompeii alive in these books is the author's attention to detail and understanding of Ancient Rome. I'm a Classics teacher and Classicist and the detail is really spot on. If the content wasn't so adult I would definitely recommend it for my pupils studying Pompeii.

I'm very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series and can only hope Amara finally gets a chance to stab Felix in the face.

This was a totally epic book 2! I couldn't put it down and read this in 24 hours.
The blurb tells you what you need to know but I'd recommend going into it blind for all the surprises, twists and turns.
I can't wait for book 3!!! Or anything else the author is going to write in the future.

If you like roman/Greek historical fiction with strong female characters that's not slow paced, you gotta pick this one up for sure.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“There is always a price to pay for underestimating a woman.”


Thank you so so much to Amy over at @headofzeus for including me on the #blogtour for this incredible book and for my #gifted copy!
The wolf den was a top fave of mine from last year so I was beyond excited to read this one … and it did not disappoint.

"Freed from Pompeii's brothel. Owned as a courtesan. Determined to have her revenge. Her name is Amara. What will she risk for power?"

The house with the golden door was just as captivating, powerful and moving as the first and Elodie’s writing just as beautiful, evocative and immersive as ever! The attention to detail in these books is outstanding! The characters will take you hold, the story will grip you and you will feel like you are walking through the streets of Pompeii yourself!

No words will do this book or this series justice so I will just say, if you loved The wolf den, you will love this! If you haven’t picked this series up yet and it sounds like your kinda thing then I can’t recommend you pick it up soon enough. If it doesn’t, honestly still give it a go!

I also just need to mention my absolute love for Brittanica 💪🏼💖
I just loved her development throughout this book .. she is strong, loyal and murderous! Her friendship with Amara was one of my favourite parts of this whole book! Love her!

"Death is nature's gift. It's better to know that suffering ends. Once we accept this life is all we have, we can make better use of it'

“Lovers, like bees, live a honeyed life” (Graffiti, Pompeii)

Warning! There are some spoilers ahead for The Wolf Den, one of my favourite books of 2021, so if you’ve not read it yet then you might want to skip this

The House with the Golden Door continues the story of Amara who has escaped Pompeii’s infamous Lupanar brothel in A.D. 75. Freed from slavery by Admiral Pliny, she now has a rich patron, Rufus, who likes his “little bird” to be slim and fragile

Despite being a freedwoman, Amara’s life and financial security depend on Rufus remaining infatuated. Knowing his ardour will wane and being in considerable debt, Amara starts to make some dangerous business decisions that pull her back into the orbit of Felix, pimp and owner of the Lupanar. I read the final two thirds of the book with a sense of impending doom, worrying that everything that Amara had worked for was about to be taken away

What I love about both of these books is how they bring Pompeii to life. Each chapter starts with a quote or graffiti from the town walls. We see inside bath houses, villas and temples and parade the streets for the festivals of Floralia and Saturnalia. Elodie Harper not only brings the town to life, but also the lives of its enslaved women, who are trying to survive in a patriarchal society that endorses the ownership of their names, their bodes and their futures…..Amara it seems has exchanged one type of slavery for another, but she is nothing if not a survivor, a hope that I’m holding onto for book 3

As the second book in the trilogy, this novel begins with Amara settling in to life as a freedwoman - and what that truly entails -
in the house with the golden door. Following straight on from The Wolf Den, we see Amara struggling to come to terms with her friend's murder, intent on revenge and determined for justice - but this ends up being served with some (major) consequences.

I didn't think it was possible for me to love this book more than The Wolf Den but this book took what that one did so well and just elevated it: a setting that is so transportive it is the perfect form of escapism; characters you grow to love and root for; a tension and foreboding that grows throughout and which doesn't let you out of its brutal grip until the final pages - and, by that point, you're pretty much ready to have your heart broken all over again.
Fantastic read!

This is a sequel, and it is useful to have read the original - The Wolf Den - as it sets the scene to introduce Amara, the former whore who has escaped from the brothel and is building a more respectable life for herself in Pompeii. However, her efforts to buy and then free some of her former friends causes her unexpected difficulties. And can she ever fall in love, having serviced so many men and learned to mask her true feelings.

The book made me sad, as we learn what it really means to be a Roman slave, owned by another person, and how it impacts life from every angle. Amara is a brave woman, although Britannica is a real heroine and a great character.

Its a great read, as good as the first book and taking us deep into a period in history. Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Wolf Den and was intrigued to find out how Amara and the other girls lives would play out and I wasn't disappointed. Once again you feel the grittiness of life at this time and also sadly the value of lives and I love that Elodie Harper keeps you guessing on the fortunes of her characters.

A really good read, can't wait for the final book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read The House with the Golden Door

Just as beautifully heartbreaking, powerful and emotional as the first instalment, Elodie Harper has absolutely smashed it with this stunning sequel.

I loved reading about Amara’s life after the first book - I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give away any plot points from the first book. I did find the plot a tiny bit slow in the beginning but it definitely ramped up a few gears and was very exciting as it went on.

I love Elodie’s writing and the research she puts into these books is incredible. I can’t wait for the third and final instalment next year!