Review by Library Journal Review
Harper ("Wolf Den" trilogy) dazzles in this lush tale of Solina, a daughter of British Iceni warrior queen Boudicca, whose journey from renegade to Roman wife offers a tantalizing peek inside a warrior's heart. Boudicca leads her clan in an uprising against Rome in Britannia after Roman soldiers brutalize her two daughters, Bellenia and Solina. Roman troops, under the command of Suetonius Paulinus, soon defeat the Iceni in a pitched battle, and Paulinus captures Solina to bring her to Rome. The downfall of Boudicca and her tribe is only the beginning of a bittersweet journey for fiery Iceni warrior Solina. The bulk of the novel is about Solina's enslavement in Rome as a cultural curiosity in Emperor Nero's court, during which an unlikely romance forms between Solina and Paulinus. The narrative employs two distinct voices throughout: Paulinus's chapters are narrated in the third person, while Solina's take a more urgent first-person perspective. This presentation can be clunky when switching between characters, and some readers may argue that the love story between Solina and Paulinus is overly romanticized, considering the pair's past violence toward each other. VERDICT Harper's fans will not be disappointed by this gripping historical novel that elevates the power of love above the strength of arms.--Peggy Kurkowski
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