"delightful historical novel"

The researchers have learned a lot about time travel including weight being a key factor. They decide to send someone two millennium into the past, but besides the smallness requirement, the person must have knowledge of the era. That is why Miranda is chosen to go back in time.

Miranda makes it to A.D. 62: POMPEII, but something went wrong and retrieval is not an option as the homing device fails. Thus she is stranded in the first century net of a fishermen who sell her as a house slave. Performing menial tasks bores Miranda so she begins telling tales and making predictions. Soon she comes to the attention of family member Marcus, who is fascinated with her. As they fall in love, she worries that she might return to her biological present at any time while he wonders if a strange slave can be the loving wife of a freeman?

A.D. 62: Pompeii is a delightful historical novel with a touch of romance used more to highlight the classes and a bit of science thrown in to propel a modern woman into an ancient society. The story line is loaded with a picturesque look at Pompeii about a decade and a half before the devastating volcanic eruption buried the city. So filled with the ambiance of the times, the plot moves at a deliberate moderate pace. Fans who seek action need to go elsewhere, but those readers interested at a vivid insightful gaze at the past will believe Rebecca East is Miranda having finally found her way back to the future.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 21, 2003

Summary

When a time travel experiment goes wrong, Miranda is stranded in the first century Roman world. She is sold into slavery and becomes a servant to a wealthy Pompeiian family. Soon she is entangled in household relationships and rivalries. By telling stories, she changes their lives - and her own. This story blends adventure, romance, and fantasy in a gentle fable about the power of imagination.