T.L. Higley

Dear Readers,

I really enjoy reading T.L. Higley’s books.  I always learn something about the culture she writes about.  Pompeii is her most recent book, but I put off reading it until it was closer to when my book club was going to read it.  I am so glad I got a chance to read it and I can’t wait to discuss it with the ladies as they all have different views of the book and what they liked and didn’t like. 

Of course this is set in Pompeii just before the mountain erupts on them all.  In some ways I don’t like that as I do know how the book will end.  Then Vesuvius does blow and destroy the town.  It kills thousands of people.  Pompeii was a beautiful playground for the idle rich back in the time of the Roman Empire.   Because of the way the disaster happened, we have been able to see a lot about the Roman life which we may never have learned otherwise.  Things, people, and animals were all preserved in the ash that poured out of the mountain, waiting for us to find years later. 

Ariella runs from an owner who used her for his own perverted pleasure.  She trades her life as a woman for that of a young boy learning the gladiator trade.  She has learned not to trust anyone with her life and plans except herself.  

Cato has fled Rome in disgrace.  His plans for his political future are in ashes behind him.  He vows to not be drawn into the politics of Pompeii, he just wants to run and own his vineyard and grow good grapes and make great wine.  That is until he meets the guy who is charge of Pompeii. Cato realizes that Maius runs the city through threats, blackmail and extortion.  Cato’s sense of justice rises to the surface and he is faced with the choice on whether the gods led him here just for this reason.

I found out lots about Roman life I really didn’t know, but there were other things I read that I already knew.  The corruption and greed of the ruling class in the Roman Empire was great.  The little guys had no way to get out from under their thumbs.  The way the rich pursued any and all avenues of entertainment was amazing.  Because they had someone or something to do their work for them, they were just bored and looking for a new way to be excited by something.   It all was just a little chilling if you want to draw parallels between Rome and the USA.  I had to remind myself a couple of times that no this was not a book about modern times, as close as it seemed sometimes. 

Happy Reading.