Robert Harris’s historical novel Pompeii [ISBN 978 0 09 928261 7] is a well-researched and exciting re-enactment of the eruption of Vesuvius in 49BC which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. It quite brilliantly sets up tension and the narrative speeds along to the known conclusion – it is, however, nail biting and has masterly twists of plot so that you don’t’ know which of the focussed characters will survive.
Robert Harris’s historical novel Pompeii [ISBN 978 0 09 928261 7] is a well-researched and exciting re-enactment of the eruption of Vesuvius in 49BC which buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. It quite brilliantly sets up tension and the narrative speeds along to the known conclusion – it is, however, nail biting and has masterly twists of plot so that you don’t’ know which of the focussed characters will survive.
It’s a time in later August, 49 BC – but as the rich citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum enjoy their summer in the Bay of Naples, there begin to be ominous signs. The wells and springs fed by the aqueducts stop, and the largest aqueduct of all is now failing. Taking four characters through the days before the eruption, Harris brilliantly evokes the world of Pompeii and the way of life that is soon to disappear.
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