Pompeii

I picked up this book from the shelf of a holiday cottage and was hooked immediately. I love books which interweave personal human stories with big events.

The ordinary loves and lives of the people of Pompeii are unfolding as the mountain above them begins to behave strangely. Of course, we, the readers, know the disaster that is about to occur, which only adds to the suspense. Unputdownable.

I fell in love with ancient history as a child when I first saw pictures of the streets of Pompeii, frozen in time and plaster casts of people and animals buried by volcanic ash. It’s what fired me to study the subject at university, so it was a real thrill – like rediscovering a long-lost friend – when I started this book.

The author paints the Bay of Naples into glittering life as it quite possibly was in AD 79. Also, like all his novels, Harris’ protagonist is a captivating creation, and to go with an aqueduct engineer in this… show more.

Robert Harris is a fantastic storyteller of any era, but I have particularly enjoyed his Roman historical fiction books. His Cicero series is a favorite of mine, so I knew I had to read Pompeii.

I felt sympathy for the characters, a combination of real and fictional, and anxiety as they failed to understand the extent of the looming danger. The setting was spectacularly done, truly transporting readers back to the doomed city, where you will wish you could shake people and yell, “Get out while you can!”

I kept thinking I knew what would happen – I mean,… show more.

I included this book due to the historical research that went into writing this story.

Pompeii is told from the POV of a young engineer who takes over the maintenance of the reservoir that brings water to the city and has run dry. Young Attilius needs to determine how and why. The narrative highlights the months and weeks ahead of the devastating eruption that destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.

Attilius faces corruption as he navigates the treacherous path to discovering the truth of the city’s impending doom and those who seek to reap financially from the city’s demise.

As with the other novels in this selection, Robert Harris uses characters to make a significant historical event come alive. The central protagonist is especially relevant to the topic – an engineer responsible for the functioning of Rome’s aqueducts. It is through his actions and eyes – those of a common man – that we are drawn into this ancient way of life. 

The constant threat of a Mt. Vesuvius building up to erupt is interweaved into the storyline so deftly that it shifts from being a highly technical topic to an integral part of the plot. Harris excels at… show more.

I do enjoy a crime novel that spirits me away and this one goes waaay back to ancient Rome. Rich Romans enjoy water via aqueducts from the north. But when tremors from Pompeii reduce the water to a trickle they get really angry and demand to know why. Aquarians tend to all things water and Rome’s big cheese Aquarian is sent north to see if it’s a plumbing issue or something else. Time passes and nothing happens. The Aquarian’s apprentice is forced to go north and find out what is going on. He’s under enormous pressure as every rich family… show more.

I am totally fascinated with many of the ancient worlds. The story of Pompeii is at the top of that list. Robert Harris’ character of Attilius brings that ancient city to life for me. His trials and challenges let readers experience everyday life on the streets of the city. The descriptions of the eruption still resonate long after I finished reading the book. The horror of that single event doesn’t leave your mind.

British author Robert Harris's best-selling novel Pompeii, published by Random House in 2003, is considered historically accurate. Its hero is Marcus Attilius Primus, a hydraulic engineer put in charge of the Pompeian aqueducts. When the flow of water into the town suddenly stops, Attilius explores Vesuvius in attempting to find the cause. This is not a whodunit but a whenwillit, said The Guardian in its enthusiastic review.