A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii by Kate QuinnMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I visited Pompeii and Herculaneum a few years ago, I couldn’t stop wondering about what the final moments of the people there would have been like, as Mount Vesuvius erupted and sent a hail of stones and poisonous gas down to destroy the cities and all their inhabitants. This amazing set of interconnected stories answers that question. Inspired by the actual figures found when Pompeii was excavated, we see how everyone from Roman senators to lowly prostitutes were affected in this vivid imagining of their final hours.
I had not appreciated how long the event lasted (over 24 hours) nor that it came in phases. As a result, some people believed that it was over when the worst was yet to come. In one harrowing story we read about a family that tried to wait it out. One of them was in her final days of a pregnancy and it seemed safer to stay put in a well-built house than to go out into the crowds trying to flee. The sky had turned dark, large chunks of rock were raining down and the roads were almost impassable as they became flooded with rocks and ash. This family believed that their new home was well built and could withstand whatever the mountain threw at them. As one portion after another of the house collapses, they realize that it is now too late to escape.
The authors have done meticulous research on what life was like in Roman times. They’ve done a masterful job of respecting the values of the day yet showing these characters as humans with desires and sentiments that a modern reader can relate to. Male political leaders and heads of household were to be obeyed, yet the authors show their struggles to try to project confidence when they were as dumbfounded as everyone else about the volcanic eruption. The people of Pompeii were used to earthquakes, but had no idea that they lived next to a volcano.
If you enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, I suspect you’ll enjoy this “pre-apocalyptic” version. It may have happened nearly 2000 years ago, but it provides great insight into how we would likely react in humanity’s final hours.
I listened to the audiobook version, which was well narrated. It’s cover is below.
