I bought The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper last year. I couldn’t even tell you when. All I knew at the time, was that it was about women in ancient Pompeii who worked at a brothel, and that the title drew me in. As we’ve established many times before, I do love wolves.
At the start of this year, 2023, I set a reading goal for myself of 50 books. Not a lot by some standards, but considering I only read 20 in 2022, it was a bit of a jump. In order to achieve this goal, I knew I’d have to start wading through my ever-growing TBR pile. And so, toward the start of May, I picked up The Wolf Den.
I started on May 8th, 2023. And finished the next day.
The Blurb
Amara was once the beloved daughter of a doctor in Greece, until her father’s sudden death plunged her mother into destitution. Now Amara is a slave and prostitute in Pompeii’s notorious Wolf Den brothel or lupanar, owned by a cruel and ruthless man. Intelligent and resourceful, she is forced to hide her true self. But her spirit is far from broken. Buoyed by the sisterhood she forges with the brothel’s other women, Amara finds solace in the laughter and hopes they all share. For the streets of the city are alive with opportunity—here, even the lowest-born slave can dream of a new beginning. But everything in Pompeii has a price. How much will Amara’s freedom cost her? The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii.
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
Things I Adored
There was a lot to love in The Wolf Den I thought. I know I’ve seen some reviews (I need to just stay clear of them on Goodreads) that had some nasty things to say. But I certainly didn’t share their opinions!
The Sisterhood
This group of women consisted of five and grows a bit as the story evolves. However each woman is her own, and stands out on the page individually. My favorites were Amara and Brittanica, but each held my respect. Well, I don’t know if they all did. But the majority did.
They weren’t tropes entirely, but they definitely had their strengths. We had the woman who was good at what she does in the brothel, the mother of the group, the lovestruck dreamer, etc. But in writing them this way it was easy to keep them apart. And since this novel consisted of a decent sized cast along with several “extras” that came on page and off, it was nice to have that foundation.
These women are in a rough situation. They’re slaves to the owner of the brothel, trying to make ends meet and not die. Some of them handle this better than others. Regardless, they do tend to stick together in their way, and it just made me cheer for them all.
A Brothel Without the Graphics
Now, I do want to go on record here. This is a story about women of ancient Pompeii who lived and worked in a brothel. And I’m not saying there isn’t some brutal scenes that take place. However, that being said, many of them were not sexually explicit. Things were hinted at, past actions referenced, but most (but not all) of the “work” that transpired was fade to black.
The brutality of this novel came in the circumstances of what these women went through on the daily, how they came to be there, and what they would be willing to do to try and escape. There is always this sense of possible violence, and I found myself holding my breath not sure how violent something could become.
Spoiler just for this very next bit as I list some TWs.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Violence, Violence, Murder, Emotional Abuse, and Suicide.
Morally Gray
Many of these women do things that I would consider morally grey. And most do so because of their situations which I cannot and will not fault them. It’s why I love this book and them so much! I couldn’t imagine living the lives of these women, but if I try, I would absolutely do some of the slightly underhanded things they do.
You’re a young woman sold to a brothel and you want to make money to escape. You want to find safety. You want to be saved if you can’t save yourself. You’re going to do things you wouldn’t normally think yourself capable of. And I freakin’ applaud the author for writing these women this way.
They are all strong, and they are all of them survivors in their way.
Lack of Plot Armor
If you’ve been with me for a minute, you know I really truly dislike when there are these huge battles in books and no one important dies… Like I really really hate it.
Looking at you ACOWAR…
Ahem, anyhow!
Along with that sense of possible violence at most corners that I mentioned earlier, I will say again that is ancient Pompeii. People die. Not going to say who of course. But there is death in this book. And why I liked this fact, is that it made things matter more! There is loss, there is the realization that characters can die, and what that might mean for the story and everyone else. It adds a sense of gravity to a fictional story that just weighs on your chest and seizes it when those moments of possible violence arise.
And where there is risk, there is reward.
Reward as the reader being sucked into an emotionally gripping story and worried for these characters!
The Antagonist
As brutal, and unforgiving as this character is, and they truly are a deplorable piece of work, I kept holding out hope for them! And that’s how I know this was a well written character. 95% of them is being a complete and total rotten human. But throughout the novel we get a percentage here and there that made me wonder anyhow, if they were completely bad. Or if is setting up for a tragic redemption arc in future novels?? The possibilities!
What I Didn’t Love
As much as I loved this book, there was really only one area where I pursed my lips.
Unresolved Agendas
Now, this may be due to the fact that this is a trilogy, and it will come back up later. However, there was something that the main character Amara starts it felt like mid-way through the book, to try and earn money for her freedom, but nothing really came of it. It was made to sound dangerous, but we never really saw or heard about it after the initial incident.
I kept expecting it to come back up at the end of the novel but it didn’t, so I was left feeling a bit let down. Like it really wasn’t that big of a deal at all. But again, there are two more novels so maybe it will resurface soon.
In Conclusion
I found The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper a gripping delight. I was unable to put it down once I started. The characters stole my heart. Amara’s story pulled at the same heart strings. And the whole time I was rooting for these women and wanting to see them beat the system. And I’m hoping I still will!
If you’re a lover of historical fiction, with some intense drama I’d highly recommend The Wolf Den.
I gave The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
Until Next Time,
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