The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

Author: Elodie Harper

Title: The Wolf Den

Publsiher: Apollo

Published: 

Pages: 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction 

      Amara was once a beloved daughter until her father's death plunged her family into penury. Now she is a slave in Pompeii's infamous brothel, owned by a man she despises. Sharp, clever, and resourceful, Amara is forced to hide her talents. For as a she-wolf, her only value lies in the desire she can stir in others. But Amara's spirit is far from broken. By day, she walks the streets with her fellow she-wolves, finding comfort in the laughter and dreams they share. For the streets of Pompeii are alive with opportunity. Out here, even the lowest slave can secure a reversal in fortune. Amara has learnt that everything in this city has its price. But how much is her freedom going to cost her?

     I suppose this is one of those books that at the moment is hard to escape? From book blogs to shop window displays, it seems to be everywhere. Hey after all it must work, after all, it got me to pick it up and flip it over to read the blurb on the back. Pompeii is one of those places that seem to have echoed down the centuries as a cautionary tale. A town of excess and lust that was punished for its sins in the most horrific way. And I mean what better way to end your story than with an unavoidable eruption right? So maybe that is why in part The Wolf Den grabbed my attention. throughout all the blurb not a mention of volcanoes or raining fire and ash.  

     The other being that I have walked those streets and seen those buildings all be it in their much more modern and crumbled state. I can still vividly remember walking into the real-life wolf den. A place that has now become this weird tourist attraction. A must-see for all visiting this ancient place. Hearing crude jokes about those women that use to live there by most who entered its doors. To me, I was just left feeling slightly ill at ease they were after all human beings traffic into prostitution and held as slaves.  So I was curious as to how this author was going to depict these women. Could she in fact give them back some of the humanity that had been stripped from them so long ago? 

      More often than not when we look back into the past we are greeted by the names of the rich and powerful. After all, these are the people whose names were written down. It is this and I would point out mostly men whose names grace our history books.  When it comes to what would now become part of present-day Italy Pompeii of course has its own list. However, unlike some other places, we do have context for some of its ordinary citizens. But I fear not for the reason they would hope for. Left as twist macabre shells stuck to the floors they are less named souls and more given nicknames for the places they were found. So When Harper introduced me to Amara she started to allow me to put flesh back into those hollow volcanic tombs. to give them face and voice to scream and shout look I was here I lived and m,y life was more than just one event. 

     Through Amara, we get to see a view of Pompeii that feels like it has been lost for a very long time. People living there lives as much as you and I do today. We get to witness the hustle and bustle of the common people the very lifeblood of any city or town if you will. And to a great extent, it opens your eyes to just what their lives were like. The many in servitude to the few who seem to have made it to the top off the pile. A fact that seems just as relevant now as then. It's a connection to this past that helps the reader slip with ease into Amara's story, that as much as we think things have changed they really haven't all that much. After all sex workers are still just as much a part of contemporary life as that of ancient Pompeii. And I would imagine in one form or another will exist until the last few humans have slipped off their mortal coils. 

     What Harper has done in the course of this book is shown just how much love these women have for each other. They are their own support network through good days and bad they strive to help each other survive from one day to the next. So no matter how brutal their enslavement is there is still a shoulder to cry on. For me I think it's part of what makes this book truly fantastic is their friendship, it is at the core of everything Amara and her fellow workers go through. And whilst much like all friend groups they might fight and argue she still shows how far they will go for each other. That they are bonded in ways that will tear them apart if ever broken. It is what helps to bring them into our own hearts as well. I can genuinely say that by the end I cared for them just as much as they did for each other.  

     In the hands of Harper, the world of Pompeii seem to have come back to life in vivid technicolor. I could feel the heat beating down on the back of my neck and hear the busy heart of this city all around me. Whilst I have visited a great many of the locations that appear in this book I could not take away the image she painted of them. And I would hope that for those who have not been it still gave the ample idea as to what it would feel like to be there. It is all too easy to get lost in the way she describes the people and place that swirl around her story in part down to amazing style of writing and also I suspect down to a great deal of research and investigation into those that came before us. 

     For me, this is a book that more than lived up to the hype around. We are pulled into Arma's world and are brought to bear witness to a life that for most would be forgotten and pushed aside. Her ups and downs are one we feel in our very bones. There were times I was left wanting to pull her away from the life she found herself to take her away to safety but as with all such things, we are left impotent. Subjected to watch from the sidelines hoping that she and her friends can do what it takes to better themselves or simply make it to the next day. It is not often I use the word spellbinding but I think in this case it is most apt. She has created a world and characters that hold you captive you want to learn what becomes of them no matter what that may entail. And funnily enough, at no point was I left thing you now what this book is missing a good volcanic eruption to spice things up. So congratulations Elodie Harper you have created an amazing book worth all the time you put into.