Wow, what a ride this novel is. The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper, second in the Wolf Den trilogy, is set in Pompeii only a few years before the city’s destruction. Amara, no longer a slave and prostitute, is a courtesan living at the house with the golden door where food, accommodation, servants and the clothes on her back are provided by her new patron, Rufus. The door may be golden but Amara’s safety depends on Rufus continuing to be entertained by her. This is such a difficult story to read, told by Harper without sentiment. We follow Amara as she faces impossible choices in a life where it seems she cannot win. Determined to help her fellow she-wolves who still work at the brothel, she gets into debt to her worst enemy. Amara is an enigma, at one moment ruthless and determined, the next throwing her heart into lost causes. This is a thrilling story that starts out at a more leisurely pace as Amara settles into her new life, but soon begins the race towards the impossibly poignant ending.
Amara builds a new life, developing her business as a money-lender to other women and selling her three musicians [with added benefits] to perform at the homes of wealthy Pompeii residents. Her life seems to be steadying. From the Wolf Den she has brought and freed Victoria, and English slave Britannica. The house with the golden door begins to feel like a home, marred only by the knowledge that the servants are employed by Rufus. A constant reminder that, although now a freedwoman and better-placed than when she was a whore, Amara’s situation is balanced on a cliff edge. When she begins to see the true character of Rufus, tension rises and the storytelling speeds up. There are moments when Amara acts with cool deliberation and courage, others when she is so impetuous you just know something bad is going to happen. As readers we travel this rollercoaster with her, wanting her to find happiness, love and security but glad she has the fighter Britannica to watch her back. When she falls in love, Amara risks everything.
There is betrayal and jealousy but also loyalty and love. I particularly loved the character development of Britannica. Felix is a great baddie, loathsome, terrifying, manipulative and creepy. And all the time, with our knowledge of historical fact, there is the brooding presence of Mount Vesuvius. It’s impossible to read these books with the descriptions of sumptuous palaces and the humbler brothels, baths and bars, all decorated in varying degrees of taste and skill with paintings, statues and fountains, and forget what it is to come.
Life in Pompeii for the she-wolves is, at its most basic, about survival, survival that is complicated when your family is threatened. The decisions one woman may take may be an anathema to another, may seem like betrayal but are understandable.
The final book in the trilogy, The Temple of Fortuna, is set in AD79. We know what happened to Pompeii then.

Here are my reviews of the other two novels in the ‘Wolf Den’ trilogy by Elodie Harper:-
THE WOLF DEN #1WOLFDEN
THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA #3WOLFDEN

If you like this, try:-
‘The Silence of the Girls’ by Pat Barker
‘A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom’ by John Boyne
‘Stone Blind’ by Natalie Haynes

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE HOUSE WITH THE GOLDEN DOOR by @Elodie_Harper https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7df via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-