Adventure, passion, betrayal, secrets, blood and violence, this is a hell of a read.  ‘Spartacus for Girls’ about a Jewish slave girl and a Roman Gladiator, it is terrific stuff.  I haven’t been this excited about a first novel since The Russian Concubine.  You need to steal time to read it for you really cannot put it down, and nor should you.

Comparison: Anita Diamant (The Red Tent), Kate Furnivall (The Russian Concubine), Diana Gabaldon.

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Dartmoor.co.uk has teamed up with Lovereading to offer one lucky winner the chance to win a prize package of accommodation for 2 at Lurcombe luxury apartments during the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey on June 7–9th, including day tickets to attend the festival itself plus Dinner for two (including a bottle of wine) in one of our leading gastro pubs the Rock Inn and a delicious lunch for two at Home Farm Café set in the scenic grounds of the National Trust Estate at Parke in Bovey Tracey.

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Synopsis

Passion. Treachery. Murder...A heart-stopping epic about a Jewish slave girl and Rome's greatest gladiator, who become involved in a plot to assassinate an emperor Orphaned by Rome's savage legions, Thea, a slave girl from Judaea, has learned what it takes to survive. She knows only violence until a chance meeting with gladiator Arius offers a shred of tenderness. But their bond is severed when Thea is sold again, condemned to rot in squalor. Years later, a singer known as Athena betrays no hint of her troubled past. Catching the eye of the Emperor himself, she is swept into a world of decadence and depravity. But although Domitian fears betrayal from every side, he is unaware that the greatest threat lies next to him -- a slave girl who has come to be called the Mistress of Rome...

About the Author

Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Classical Voice whilst at the same time writing her first novel, MISTRESS OF ROME, in the university’s basement computer lab. Now twenty-seven, Kate lives in San Diego with her husband. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation