Tag: NetGalley

#BookReview The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper @HoZ_Books

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The Wolf DenAbout the Book

Sold by her mother. Enslaved in Pompeii’s brothel. Determined to survive. Her name is Amara. Welcome to the Wolf Den…

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?

Format: Hardcover (464 pages)    Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 13th May 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

As swiftly becomes clear, the women of the Wolf Den are nothing more than business assets – and perishable ones at that – destined to be discarded once their beauty or sexual allure no longer generates sufficient profit for brothel owner and pimp, Felix.

Set in AD74, the book vivdly conjures up the vibrant atmosphere of daily life in Pompeii – its bustling streets and market places lined with vendors, its bath houses, temples and taverns. On festival days, such as Vinalia, its streets become more crowded than ever as citizens vie for the best view of processions. Other scenes in the book bring to life the excitement of the Games with their gladiatorial combats and beast hunts, or visits to the theatre to see the latest play. Probably best though to steer clear of the honey-glazed dormouse served at dinner or the rigorous beauty regime Amara and her fellow She Wolves have to undergo, including tweezering out the hair under their arms and slathering their legs with with waxy resin then scraping them until they are smooth. Other neat touches in the book are the chapter headings consisting of fragments of graffiti or lines from poems and plays, as well as a role for a real-life figure, Pliny the Elder.

The diverse backgrounds of the She-Wolves whose lives the book follows – Amara, Dido, Victoria, Cressa and Beronice – illustrate the various ways in which women could find themselves slaves: being left an orphan, captured during a raid by slave traders or, most shocking of all, sold off by families who have nothing else left of value to sell. Whatever has brought them to the Wolf Den, they demonstrate a sisterly solidarity finding pleasure where they can in their rare time off from servicing clients. There’s bawdy humour in the book such as when, gathered in their favourite tavern, The Sparrow, Amara observes, “Here we all are… Four penniless slaves, sucking off idiots for bread and olives. What a life”. Of course, what none of them knows is that within a few years the eruption of Mount Vesuvius will change the life of everyone in Pompeii, rich or poor.

In addition to loss of freedom, slavery also brings a loss of identity. On being acquired by Felix, the She Wolves are given new names, can no longer speak in their native tongues and have to converse in Latin instead. Paradoxically, they are often ‘marketed’ to potential customers based on their racial background in order to lend them an air of exoticism. Whether to share their real names with others is one of the few things they can decide for themselves, which is why it’s an act of such significance when Amara decides to do so. And, as she is reminded, “even slaves own their happiness.  Feelings are the only things we do own.”

I doubt any reader can fail to admire Amara’s spirit. As she says, “Either we choose to stay alive or we give up. And if it’s living we choose, then we do whatever it takes.” Resourceful and determined to make the best of her situation in order to one day earn her freedom, Amara’s not afraid to offer Felix suggestions about ways to enhance the income of the Wolf Den or his money-lending business. What she doesn’t realize is just what a cut-throat world he operates in and the consequences that may follow from him taking her advice. As he remarks, “What do you think it takes to survive in Pompeii?”  By the end of the book, Amara has discovered exactly what it takes to survive in Pompeii, forced to make a choice between love and freedom.

The Wolf Den is an illuminating portrait of the lives of women determined to cling to what little control they have over their lives, even if that’s only expressing their disdain for their clients via disparaging graffiti daubed on the walls of their cells. If nothing else, it acts as a record of their existence. As the author notes on her Pompeii blog, the remains of the Lupanar is one of the most visited buildings in Pompeii, a place that visitors remember for “its erotic frescoes and for the small cells with their stone beds, left almost as if the women and their clients might return at any moment”. I can testify to this having been fortunate enough to visit Pompeii some years ago during a holiday in Italy. The Wolf Den would be the perfect preparation for a first or return visit.  

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Immersive, emotional, assured

Try something similar: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

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Elodie HarperAbout the Author

Elodie Harper is a journalist and prize winning short story writer. Her story ‘Wild Swimming’ won the 2016 Bazaar of Bad Dreams short story competition, run by The Guardian and Hodder & Stoughton and judged by Stephen King.

She is currently a reporter and presenter at ITV News Anglia, and before that worked as a producer for Channel 4 News. (Photo credit: Twitter profile)

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#BookReview Ariadne by Jennifer Saint @RandomTTours @Wildfirebks

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in the tour and to Wildfire for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

AriadneAbout the Book

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?

Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages)    Publisher: Wildfire
Publication date: 29th April 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Ariadne on Goodreads

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My Review

The first thing that drew me to this book was that I was fortunate enough to visit the site of Knossos on a holiday to Crete many years ago. I was also intrigued by the idea of a book that puts its titular heroine, Ariadne, centre stage in the retelling of the myth of the Minotaur.

A recurring theme of the book is the male domination of society and the imbalance of power between men and women. As Ariadne observes, women – including her own mother, Pasiphaë – are blamed and punished for the actions of men, both mortal and divine.  In fact, it’s not quite as simple as that because, as the book shows, mortal women also suffer at the hands of female Gods.  For example, Ariadne ponders on Athena’s actions in punishing Medusa for her seduction by Poseidon: ‘She must punish the girl who was so shameless as to be overpowered by Poseidon… So Medusa had to pay for Poseidon’s act. It made no sense at all.’  

Arguably, the book illustrates the misuse of power per se. For example, Ariadne observes that her brother, the Minotaur, for whom she shows a touching pity when he’s a baby, becomes a display to the world of her father Minos’s dominance. Similarly Minos keeps Daedalus a virtual prisoner on Crete because of his genius for invention and to prevent his knowledge of the secrets of the labyrinth beneath the palace falling into the hands of others.

The author draws the reader into the stories of Ariadne and Phaedra, showing how each in their different way attempt to find their identity and gain some control over their lives.  For Phaedra, used as a political bargaining chip by her brother after the death of Minos in order to secure peace with Athens, it’s about gaining what knowledge she can of the workings of the Athenian state and using that to her advantage.  For Ariadne, living alone in exile on Naxos, it’s about finding the courage and determination to survive. As she says defiantly, ‘I was not Minos’ captive daughter; I was not Cinyras’s trade for copper; nor was I Theseus’s diversion between heroic feats of glory.  Somehow I had survived them all and here I was, free of them at last’.  She does survive, albeit with the help of the male God, Dionysus. In fact, both Ariadne and Phaedra are destined ultimately to be disillusioned, let down and deceived by men who don’t deserve them.

Alongside the stories of Ariadne and Phaedra, there are references to other characters from Greek mythology, such as Medea, Jason and Heracles. At nearly 400 pages, Ariadne is a chunky read but if some sections move at a rather leisurely pace, there are plenty of scenes that are full of energy and drama. For example, the description of a descent into the Underworld.

Although I was aware of the story of Ariadne up to the point of the slaying of the Minotaur and was vaguely aware that she spent time on Naxos, I knew nothing about events in her life thereafter. I had also never heard of her sister, Phaedra, or her mother, Pasiphae. (I obviously should have paid more attention during my Classical Studies lessons at school!) I think this lack of knowledge hampered my ability to fully judge what degree of imagination the author has brought to her retelling of the story of Ariadne. This may also explain why, whilst full of admiration for the superb quality of the writing, my feelings about Ariadne do not quite match the wild – dare I say, Dionysian – enthusiasm of other readers. However, for lovers of Greek mythology, Ariadne is a book I can definitely recommend. And wouldn’t it be great to be reading it on a beach in Crete?

In three words: Emotional, assured, immersive

Try something similar: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

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Jennifer Saint Author picAbout the Author

Jennifer Saint grew up reading Greek mythology and was always drawn to the untold stories hidden within the myths. After thirteen years as a high school English teacher, sharing a love of literature and creative writing with her students, she wrote Ariadne, her first novel, which tells the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur from the perspective of Ariadne – the woman who made it happen. Jennifer is now a full-time author, living in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and two children. She is working on her second novel, another retelling of ancient myth.

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