Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper is the author’s first book after the completion of The Wolf Den trilogy (one of my favorites.) Many may know about the famous Iceni warrior Boudicca who led a rebellion against Roman invaders, but little is known about her two daughters beyond the Roman accounts. History tells us that Boudicca was flogged by the Romans while they raped her daughters. Boudicca commits suicide, but what of her daughters?
Harper follows Solina, one of the daughters, in the warfare leading up to Roman defeat of the Iceni and her subsequent life in Roman captivity. The first part of the novel explores the dynamic between Solina and her mother, sister, and father. These relationships are often fraught with miscommunications and strong ideals of honor and protection of family. I found this first part to be the strongest because we see Solina in her natural state, so to speak, embracing her true identity. We also get the perspective of Boudicca (real name Catia), which offers interesting insight on how she views her daughters and husband.
Enter Roman general Paulinus, the legate of Britannia who conquers the Iceni and takes Solina, now seemingly the sole survivor of her family, into captivity. Paulinus raids the remaining Iceni settlements and takes the relics of Solina’s people for Rome’s treasure. Paulinus humiliates Solina, as well as forces her to execute one of the last surviving members of her extended family. As such, I think any reader–myself included, would be extremely put off by the budding “romance” between Solina and Paulinus.
Solina seems to develop Stockholm Syndrome with Paulinus, at first seducing him as a means to manipulate him and possibly free herself, but later she seems to develop genuine affection for him. As Solina and Paulinus eventually make it back to Rome, Solina is given to the Empress as a slave. Paulinus, once her captor and destroyer of her people, is unfortunately Solina’s only salvation.
I was excited for this book because I loved the Wolf Den trilogy, as well as the history of Boudicca, but the Stockholm Syndrome “romance” between the two main characters and the obvious exploitation of power dynamics never sat well with me. Despite the author’s attempt to make Paulinus sympathetic, I was never on board with their relationship. I kept hoping Solina would exact revenge upon him, but the story and their relationship in fact goes in the entirely opposite direction. I felt that Solina’s life in Rome, the life she builds with the man who took everything from her and her people, was so antithetical to Solina as a character. While Solina struggles with this dichotomy throughout, the ending the author provides is sadly not one that will satisfy many. What’s more, the summary of information concerning the political state of Rome in the later chapters was confusing and rushed. Ultimately, everything about the “romance” felt wrong to me and unfortunately soured my reading experience despite the author’s writing skill.
Boudicca’s Daughter will be released in the US on Sept. 2, 2025
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