The Wolf Den

Wolf Den Trilogy

By: Elodie Harper

Narrated by: Antonia Beamish

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 London Times Bestseller

“A gripping historical story.” —The Independent

“This powerful . . . trilogy opener beautifully walks the line between gutting and hopeful.”—BuzzFeed, Best Books of March 2022

Sold by her impoverished mother. Enslaved in an infamous brothel in Pompeii. Determined to fight for her freedom at all costs. . . . Enter into the Wolf Den.

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.

©2021 Elodie Harper (P)2023 Union Square & Co.

SOOO GOOD

I could not stop listening! This book is so well written and preformed. Five stars!!

Excellent

The book was excellent and heartfelt. I couldn’t stop listening! The descriptions of Pompeii and the people are amazing.

Never read anything quite like it!

I really loved this listen. The story had me glued, and the narrator was wonderful!

Couldn’t stop listening once I started

Specifically wanted a story about strong, complex women written by a woman, and this exceeded all expectations. Loved the performances for all characters. I’m ordering the next book immediately!

Captivating

Some books move along at a breakneck speed while others meander along. Both can work well for me if the story fits the style. This is a story that’s both unique and captivating with a well paced storyline that worked. This isn’t a story with a ton of dialogue that has the characters do the telling. It’s a story told by actions and reactions in a complex narrative showing beauty in a world that wouldn’t have much light to speak of.. at first glance. When all you have left in a world of darkness are your thoughts, would your mind be your anchor or devastation in the end? A happy story it is not. Resilience is often futile when another owns your every action, and we all have our breaking points. Would you hang on to the little left that is yours in a world where hope is often futile.. and can ultimately break you in the end?

Utterly swept away!

As a lover of ancient history, Elodie Harper has succeeded in bringing it to life in a well written and thoroughly enjoyable tale of historical fiction. Give this one a try. I'm so glad I did. I'm moving on to the next book in the series.

Manuel enjoy this book also

This book is billed as feminist historical fiction, but don’t let that word you off from listening to it if you’re a man. I think the author does a very good job of showing the anger and the discussed that a brothel slave probably would have felt back, then discussed at her master, as well as discussed at some of the. Johns that come into the brothel. The story centers around five of the brothel slaves although the main character is a woman named Amara, who was sold into slavery by her destitute mother, and eventually finds her way into a brothel in Pompeii. Note there is no irruption Of mount Vesuvius In this book, so if you’re looking for a story about the volcano, you won’t find it here.

Impossible to be more disappointed

I really wanted to love this book. Waited for years for it to be available in Canada on audiobook. I’ve never left a book review - this book was so bad, I feel so ripped off, that I wanted to spare others from the lost time spent reading it.

Don’t get me wrong, everything about this book seemed excellent to me. Ancient Roman resort town, the stories of marginalized women, a rags to riches tale. I’m a lover of historical fiction and read it almost exclusively.

It was all for naught. The story itself was dull beyond imagining. Virtually nothing happened. I don’t actually need much drama if characterization and setting are compelling. They were not. No drama, no character development, dull, inconsequential, unbelievable dialogue, a complete absence of descriptive detail. When two major characters were killed off, I felt absolutely no emotional response.

The research into the time and place was virtually nonexistent existent. This was set in pre-eruption Pompeii, but could just as easily have been in a small town in Idaho or on a colony on the other side of the galaxy. There were too many anachronisms to list them all, but perhaps the most disappointing was the presence of two Spanish speaking Spanish dancers. Spanish speakers from Spain in 79 CE? Seriously Elodie Harper?

The lack of research underscores the author’s disdain for her readers. Simple facts are repeated constantly, as if us dim readers couldn’t possibly remember anything we’d read previously.

The narration was flat and uninspired, filled with mispronunciation, and did nothing to elevate the middling prose.

This book is simple, factual inaccurate, a n offence to anyone who loves literary historical fiction or accuracy in historical fiction. I can’t for the life of me understand how it garnered so much buzz in its prerelease. I’m going to return it was relish as soon as I submit this review. I suggest you save yourself the anguish and just skip it.

Ughhhhh

I was really hoping for beautiful prose and a moving harrowing story about a girl named Amara and honestly I was expecting Mount Vesuvius to pop off😅

awful

this is an absolute dreadful story. I'm almost done and I still have no idea what the story arch is. poorly written.