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A review by louise1608
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
5.0
Loving my Greek Mythology books at the moment you guys. Seriously.
In this story, we follow Amara, the only daughter of a well-regarded Doctor in a small town in Greece. As an only child with no brothers for her father to pass on his knowledge and work to, Amara becomes incredibly intelligent and well-read. Following her father's untimely demise Amara and her mother's fortune turns sour and the end result sees her mother sell Amara as a house slave. Things only get worse for Amara though as her new owner's wife is a jealous woman and sells her once again but this time as a whore. Now Amara is living a life she could never have possibly imagined as one of the "she wolfs", a slave, a whore in a Pompeii brothel. From the very beginning, this book promises to be a difficult and emotional read. The author doesn't shy away from rape, violence and repeated abuse both mental and physical. The whores of the Wolf Den lead a hopeless life of which they have no hope of escaping. The plot is bleak, tragic but with moments of true happiness and hope.
The story is centers around Amara and her fellow She-Wolves Dido, Victoria, Cressa and Beronice. Each woman has their own backstory and each and every one of them is terribly sad. The women are true friends though and bond over their shared sense of despair and hopelessness in their own situations. Amara and Dido are the best of friends and come from similar well-to-do backgrounds. Dido has a beautiful singing voice and Amara plays the Lyre. The combination of this results in a very good opportunity for the girls to get away from the brothel to entertain at parties. Though they are still expected to have sex with their clients at these parties you can understand the women being thrilled at the prospect of getting out of the dank, dark and dirty brothel and the low calibre of clients in generally attracts. What is good news for Amara and Dido though results in bitterness and jealousy from the other whores who are expected to work and entertain the brothel clients alone. Victoria is a very interesting character who seems to feel genuine love for her "owner", Felix. Found discarded in a bin as a baby Victoria knows no other life than the one she lives and is desperate to prove herself in any way she can. Whatever Felix asks of her, she does. I do think Felix has genuine feelings for Victoria as well and so it is very sad to see the way he puts her down and discards her when it suits him. There is a lot more to Felix than you would first be led to believe and I was fascinated by the revelations as the book progressed. Felix's own past makes it understandable when it comes to why he is the way he is. There is so much sadness and tragedy throughout this story for all of the characters. You grow to love these women for who they are, flaws and all.
I think the book was paced incredibly well. You are drawn in from the opening pages and I personally struggled to put it down, reading late into the night until I had finished. The world was gritty, dark and completely absorbed me. Pompeii is a bustling city with a serious class divide. Danger lurks around every corner and you find yourself constantly wondering what might come out of the shadows. I was horrified by the things the characters had to endure and although the nature of the story is very bleak you do still find yourself smiling and even laughing at times due to the women's resilience. I really enjoyed the way the story unravelled itself and how you are slowly introduced to each character and their backstory. By the time you reach the end you feel like you know each and every one of them and it breaks your heart to read about their suffering.
I thought this was a fantastic, thoroughly absorbing read. The ending was very bittersweet and although I was so sad in those final pages I was also really happy with the conclusion and thought it was all very well done. It seems a bit strange to write that I enjoyed this even though I really did... the story is tragic but I was completely captivated by it. The writing was beautiful, descriptive but also sensitive to the women and the horror they were enduring on a day to day basis. This truly is a story of survival. Amara is strong, clever and resourceful and her story made me sad, angry, hopeful and happy in succession.
In this story, we follow Amara, the only daughter of a well-regarded Doctor in a small town in Greece. As an only child with no brothers for her father to pass on his knowledge and work to, Amara becomes incredibly intelligent and well-read. Following her father's untimely demise Amara and her mother's fortune turns sour and the end result sees her mother sell Amara as a house slave. Things only get worse for Amara though as her new owner's wife is a jealous woman and sells her once again but this time as a whore. Now Amara is living a life she could never have possibly imagined as one of the "she wolfs", a slave, a whore in a Pompeii brothel. From the very beginning, this book promises to be a difficult and emotional read. The author doesn't shy away from rape, violence and repeated abuse both mental and physical. The whores of the Wolf Den lead a hopeless life of which they have no hope of escaping. The plot is bleak, tragic but with moments of true happiness and hope.
The story is centers around Amara and her fellow She-Wolves Dido, Victoria, Cressa and Beronice. Each woman has their own backstory and each and every one of them is terribly sad. The women are true friends though and bond over their shared sense of despair and hopelessness in their own situations. Amara and Dido are the best of friends and come from similar well-to-do backgrounds. Dido has a beautiful singing voice and Amara plays the Lyre. The combination of this results in a very good opportunity for the girls to get away from the brothel to entertain at parties. Though they are still expected to have sex with their clients at these parties you can understand the women being thrilled at the prospect of getting out of the dank, dark and dirty brothel and the low calibre of clients in generally attracts. What is good news for Amara and Dido though results in bitterness and jealousy from the other whores who are expected to work and entertain the brothel clients alone. Victoria is a very interesting character who seems to feel genuine love for her "owner", Felix. Found discarded in a bin as a baby Victoria knows no other life than the one she lives and is desperate to prove herself in any way she can. Whatever Felix asks of her, she does. I do think Felix has genuine feelings for Victoria as well and so it is very sad to see the way he puts her down and discards her when it suits him. There is a lot more to Felix than you would first be led to believe and I was fascinated by the revelations as the book progressed. Felix's own past makes it understandable when it comes to why he is the way he is. There is so much sadness and tragedy throughout this story for all of the characters. You grow to love these women for who they are, flaws and all.
I think the book was paced incredibly well. You are drawn in from the opening pages and I personally struggled to put it down, reading late into the night until I had finished. The world was gritty, dark and completely absorbed me. Pompeii is a bustling city with a serious class divide. Danger lurks around every corner and you find yourself constantly wondering what might come out of the shadows. I was horrified by the things the characters had to endure and although the nature of the story is very bleak you do still find yourself smiling and even laughing at times due to the women's resilience. I really enjoyed the way the story unravelled itself and how you are slowly introduced to each character and their backstory. By the time you reach the end you feel like you know each and every one of them and it breaks your heart to read about their suffering.
I thought this was a fantastic, thoroughly absorbing read. The ending was very bittersweet and although I was so sad in those final pages I was also really happy with the conclusion and thought it was all very well done. It seems a bit strange to write that I enjoyed this even though I really did... the story is tragic but I was completely captivated by it. The writing was beautiful, descriptive but also sensitive to the women and the horror they were enduring on a day to day basis. This truly is a story of survival. Amara is strong, clever and resourceful and her story made me sad, angry, hopeful and happy in succession.