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Freed from Pompeii's brothel. Owned as a courtesan. Determined to have revenge. Her name is Amara. What will she risk for power?
Amara has escaped her life as a slave in Pompeii's most notorious brothel. She now has a house, fine clothes, servants - but all of these are gifts from her patron, hers for as long as she keeps her place in his affections.
As she adjusts to this new life, Amara is still haunted by her past. At night she dreams of the wolf den, and the women she left behind. By day, she is pursued by her former slavemaster. In order to be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is.
Amara knows she can draw strength from Venus, the goddess of love. Yet falling in love herself may prove to be her downfall.
The House with the Golden Door is the stunning second novel in Elodie Harper's celebrated Wolf Den Trilogy, which reimagines the lives of women who have long been overlooked.
Praise for The House with the Golden Door:
'Beautiful, moving, captivating... A brilliant sequel to The Wolf Den' Jennifer Saint
'Vivid, unsentimental and compelling' The Times
'[A] gripping sequel... Harper's recreation of this ancient world continues to thrill' Observer
'Gripping and richly imagined, this is spellbinding storytelling' Louise O'Neill
'A spell-binding novel that brings Pompeii back to life and explores enslavement in all its forms' Anna Mazzola
'Absolutely stunning and utterly gripping!' Buki Papillon
About the author
Elodie Harper is the award-winning author of the bestselling Wolf Den trilogy, set in ancient Pompeii. The first book in the series, The Wolf Den, was a Waterstones Book of the Month, and the second, The House with the Golden Door, was a Sunday Times bestseller. Her next novel, Boudicca’s Daughter, is out in August 2025. Alongside her career as a writer, Elodie has worked as a reporter at ITV News and producer at Channel 4.
elodieharper.com
Summary
The Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller
Freed from Pompeii's brothel. Owned as a courtesan. Determined to have revenge. Her name is Amara. What will she risk for power?
Amara has escaped her life as a slave in Pompeii's most notorious brothel. She now has a house, fine clothes, servants - but all of these are gifts from her patron, hers for as long as she keeps her place in his affections.
As she adjusts to this new life, Amara is still haunted by her past. At night she dreams of the wolf den, and the women she left behind. By day, she is pursued by her former slavemaster. In order to be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is.
Amara knows she can draw strength from Venus, the goddess of love. Yet falling in love herself may prove to be her downfall.
The House with the Golden Door is the stunning second novel in Elodie Harper's celebrated Wolf Den Trilogy, which reimagines the lives of women who have long been overlooked.
Praise for The House with the Golden Door:
'Beautiful, moving, captivating... A brilliant sequel to The Wolf Den' Jennifer Saint
'Vivid, unsentimental and compelling' The Times
'[A] gripping sequel... Harper's recreation of this ancient world continues to thrill' Observer
'Gripping and richly imagined, this is spellbinding storytelling' Louise O'Neill
'A spell-binding novel that brings Pompeii back to life and explores enslavement in all its forms' Anna Mazzola
'Absolutely stunning and utterly gripping!' Buki Papillon
Foreword
We return to Pompeii for the second instalment in Elodie Harper's Wolf Den Trilogy, reimagining the lives of the women from the town's lupanar. Amara has escaped the wolf den but she is not free from the troubles of her past.
Additional text
Ancient Pompeii comes to life in the second installment in Elodie Harper's Wolf Den trilogy... with Harper's clear prose and modern dialogue
Report
'So beautiful, moving, captivating and thrilling. The House with the Golden Door is a brilliant sequel to The Wolf Den' Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
