One of my favourite reads of the past couple of years was The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. That was the story of Amira who worked in a brothel in Pompeii. Sparrow is also about a slave working in a brothel, this time in Carthago Nova. Sparrow is not a young woman however but a boy who is less than 10 when he is put to work as a prostitute or wolf as they are called. In this book, Sparrow tells us of his life as a wolf, sometimes in graphic detail.

Sparrow does not know his name. He is variously called Antoinus, Antiochus, Pusus, Mouse and finally Jacob. He has no parents, can remember nothing of his past. We see, hear and smell Carthago Nova through his senses. One of the other wolves, Euterpe, nurtures him and tells him stories.. She is the closest thing he has to a mother.
Sparrow is a memorable character. He tells us his story when he is an old man all the time warning us that there will be no easy answers, that loose ends will not be tied up. The writing is rich and descriptive and there is a real sense of place and time in it. The author has obviously done his research and it pays off in painting a rich picture of life in that time and place. Is it too descriptive? At times I thought it was, especially near the beginning when I felt it took a long time to get the story going. I also did not like the description of child abuse which for me was too detailed. However I understand why it was done.

I've left it a couple of days before reviewing as I was tempted to mark it down because of the graphic description. However on balance I would strongly recommend this book if you want to experience life in the fading Roman Empire. But be aware that it is explicit in places. It ends not at the end of his life but when he is still a child so I expect there to be sequels. 4.5 rounded up to 5.