The final instalment of the Wolf Den trilogy by Elodie Harper doesn’t disappoint. The Temple of Fortuna follows the return journey of former brothel worker Amara from Rome via Misenum to Pompeii. She returns a very different woman from the last time she stood on the city’s streets beneath Vesuvius, having clawed her way up from slave to freedwoman and high-class courtesan. It’s been a while since I read the second book of the trilogy, The House with the Golden Door, but I slipped quickly back into Amara’s world. Moving in the highest of political circles on the arm of her patron Demetrius, and sometimes spying for him, Amara still fears the shadows and sees glimpses of poor people who remind her of her past and the dangers she faced. Every day she thinks of her daughter Rufina, left in Pompeii in the charge of slave Philos, her former lover and Rufina’s biological father, and fears for their safety. Rome is Amara’s best chance to better herself so she can raise Rufina in wealth and security. When Demetrius asks her to be his wife, Amara sales to Misenum to the house of her benefactor Pliny and then on to Pompeii. It is September AD79.
The fatal eruption of Vesuvius is a shadow throughout the trilogy but especially so in this book. As Amara’s ship approaches Pompeii, small earthquakes make the land of Campania shake. The tremors are so frequent that to the locals they become normal. Amara is reunited with her spiky daughter and we meet again friends familiar from previous books. My favourite is the female gladiator Britannicus, who has been watching over Rufina’s safety in a city where Felix, pimp and owner of the Wolf Den brothel, and Rufus, Rufina’s nominal father, are always a threat.
I admit to being impatient for the eruption to begin, this happens just past halfway but could have been much earlier. The earth trembles, dusk falls prematurely. ‘Above the mount, a black column has risen, is still rising, piercing the sky like a spear thrown from the kingdom of Vulcan, god of fire.’ From this point on, all political, business and relationship worries – will Demetrius accept Rufina as his adopted daughter, how can Amara leave Philos who she realises she still loves, how can she stop Felix extorting money from the bars she owns near the gladiator arena – disappear and the running starts. What follows is an almost eyewitness detailed report of fleeing Pompeii for Stabiae and Surrentum.
It’s impossible to review the second half of the book without spoilers. There are a number of epilogues which tie up loose ends, a little too neatly for my liking. But this is an excellent trilogy, immersive, with characters you root for. Definitely one to re-read.

Here are my reviews of the first two novels in the ‘Wolf Den’ series by Elodie Harper:-
THE WOLF DEN #1WOLFDEN
THE HOUSE WITH THE GOLDEN DOOR #2WOLFDEN

If you like this, try:-
‘A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom’ by John Boyne
‘Glorious Exploits’ by Ferdia Lennon 
‘Shadows in the Ashes’ by Christina Courtenay 

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA by @Elodie_Harper https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7U6 via @SandraDanby

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