Although A.D. 62: Pompeii is ostensibly Science Fiction, it dispenses with any SF elements early and quickly, using them only to contrive a way of having the narrator time travel back to 62 CE. Once there, Miranda is captured and sold into slavery. She spends the rest of the novel describing her life in one household.
East's writing is often repetitious. She repeats phrases and plot points, either in an attempt to increase suspense, or simply as padding. And despite the constant reminders that slavery exists and women have few rights, the novel has a "safe" tone to it, as if it was striving for a Family rating. It is, in the end, a bit of a soap opera. Its major selling point is its accurate depiction of everyday life during the Roman Empire, and can be recommended only as an alternative to dreary textbooks. But for a superior example of time travelling back to Roman times, pick up L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Falls.
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