Another brilliant book from Robert Harris written with his usual flair for fast paced narrative which keeps the reader gripped throughout. This novel is very well plotted with a number of sub-plots which keeps you guessing as to where they will take you next. The tension around the massive eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD gradually builds up to an explosive climax (pun intended!), and although we know the horrific outcome for Pompeii and Herculaneum we don’t know what happens to the fictional individuals who feature in Mr Harris’ novel and so are kept guessing until the very end.

As with all his novels the author has conducted a huge amount of historical research which brings the ancient Roman Empire to life for us. The historically accurate depiction of life in ancient Rome – the cities and towns, luxurious villas and dingy brothels, senators and slaves, baths and aqueducts, great feasts and hunger, decadence and poverty – are impressive, the contrast between every-day life and the sudden cataclysmic eruption is gripping. Although full of incredible historical detail (information about the aqueduct is fascinating) Mr Harris deftly reveals this great depth of knowledge as part of the plot rather than a ‘knowledge dump’ which enables you to come away from Pompeii knowing more about Rome without feeling lectured to or as though the plot has been side-lined in order to educate you.

As well as historically accurate the scientific information about the volcanic eruption which has been included works extremely well and gives an immediacy and truth to the narrative, as does the inclusion of Pliny who recorded the eruption and… (read it and see!) What the author has written about Pliny is an accurate rendition of what we know happened from his own and other historical sources and, as such, the reader can quite literally feel themselves right there in the centre of one of the most cataclysmic times in Roman history.

Pompeii is a well-crafted novel; the dialogue is totally believable which gives the reader an emotional attachment to the characters; the descriptions of the eruption are incredibly realistic and draw you in – you can almost taste the dust and feel pumice stone. I never hesitate to recommend books by Robert Harris and Pompeii is no exception; an easy to read, meticulously researched, fast paced page turner which will have any lover of historical fiction gripped until the very last page.

Pompeii can be found on Amazon

You can find out more about Robert Harris here

You can find more of my Recommended Reads here