Elodie Harper’s debut novel, THE WOLF DEN, was a raw, unflinching exploration into the emotional turmoil and physical abuse of ancient Pompeiian sex workers. In that book, Amara --- enslaved to the mercurial and brutal Felix --- manages to seemingly win free of her captivity. However, in Harper’s follow-up, THE HOUSE WITH THE GOLDEN DOOR, Amara soon sees that everything that glitters isn’t gold --- or, at least, sometimes might be fool’s gold.

"Friendship, love, lust, power, hate and betrayal coalesce into a scintillating novel full of tragedy, triumph and female resilience."

As DOOR opens (pun intended), Amara is living a life she never had imagined after her time in the brothel. It appears that she has been liberated from her toil; she is now a courtesan, only trysting with her aristocratic lover, Rufus, and residing in a house that is a virtual paradise compared to her former accommodations. She has a staff at her beck and call (even if they technically answer to Rufus) and money to call her own.

But even though her world has changed dramatically, Amara soon finds that the word “free” is truly relative. She must contort herself emotionally to satisfy Rufus, on whose every word her very livelihood depends. And no matter how much she tries to do the right thing, by herself and her friends, Amara struggles to survive. Sure, survival might look different than it did in the brothel, but she is fighting for her life --- and her love --- nonetheless.

When everything is put on the line to save those she considers her sisters, Amara might be gaining her greatest asset…or foreshadowing her own downfall.

Readers will follow eagerly as Amara soon realizes that she’s far more complex of an individual than she ever could have imagined. These hard-won triumphs balance out the darker sides of human nature, coming together to create a beautifully flawed heroine in an agonizingly compelling story. Friendship, love, lust, power, hate and betrayal coalesce into a scintillating novel full of tragedy, triumph and female resilience.