POMPEII: My Love Must Wait
'It cannot be,' she replied, her breath coming in short gasps. 'My love must wait, but somewhere, we will meet again.'
Pompeii. 78 AD. A distinctive, oddly-shaped building looms menacingly out of the night, squatting on the narrow laneway's paving stones. The Lupanar Grande is the largest Pompeii brothel and a place reeking of body odour, stale perfume, urine and sex. The prostitutes are the dregs of society, infames, but they still seek a way to find love and friendship.
Selene, a free-born prostitute from Naples is new to Pompeii. She is an ambitious, enticingly pretty girl, determined to replace the famous courtesan, Prima. She will be drawn into a Lupanar blackmail ring.
Velina, a slave, is bought by the brothel's leno and taken to the Lupanar with her best friend, Alexa. As slaves, they are limited to its interior and the outside footpath where they solicit for business. They sleep in their cells and are forbidden to stray from the brothel. Their leno, Servius, takes all they earn.
Flora, shrewd and intelligent, lives in her own tiny, two room house two doors from the Lupanar. Behind her cerulean blue front door, she sees everything through her large front window. She will save girls from prostitution.
Hester, a shy, gentle girl belongs to a small group known as Christianos. Its meeting place is located opposite the Lupanar, with unfortunate consequences.
Lucius Attilius is addicted to gambling and women. It leads him into the Pompeii arena, where few gladiators die but many suffer severe injuries. He will find a love so strong that it overcomes even the sordid Lupanar.
Their lives intertwine as Vesuvius erupts. What will happen to the survivors?
POMPEII: The Devil's Playground
A Novel
WELCOME TO POMPEII'S HOUSE OF PLEASURE!
78 AD
Blood dripped from the sharp long blade, as Velina's fingers unclenched and the dagger clattered to the floor below. The slowly increasing crimson liquid pooled over the grimy concrete.
She stood frozen in place, her eyes wide and staring in horror. For a few moments no one moved. Then, chaos broke loose as the screaming began. Customers, most of them semi-naked, one wearing nothing, ripped aside the curtains to the cells and ran straight through the Lupanar's front door into the laneway.
Young women, many through no fault of their own, were sold into slavery or became slaves through desperation in the purpose built, most popular brothel in the city of Pompeii. They lived lives filled with emotional and physical cruelty. They had no freedom and they had no future.
Their lives intertwined with those who sought their services. As Vesuvius spewed forth its terror, fate determined their destiny.
These are their stories.
