'I promise, ' Selene whispered, 'that one day, I will be someone. One day, everyone will know my name.'

Pompeii. 78 AD. A distinctive, oddly-shaped building looms menacingly out of the night, squatting on the narrow laneway's paving stones. The Lupanar Grande, is the largest Pompeii brothel and a place reeking of body odour, stale perfume, urine and sex. The prostitutes are the dregs of society, infames, but all hope has not been extinguished.

Selene, a free-born street prostitute from Naples, is new to Pompeii. She lusts after wealth and fame. Ambitious and enticingly pretty, she is determined to replace the famous courtesan, Prima. She will be drawn into a Lupanar blackmail ring.

Velina, a slave, is bought by the brothel's leno and taken to the Lupanar with her best friend, Alexa. As slaves, they are limited to its interior and the outside footpath where they solicit for business. They sleep in their cells and are forbidden to stray from the brothel. Their leno, Servius, takes all they earn.

Flora, independent and shrewd, lives in her own tiny, two-room house adjacent to the Lupanar. Behind her cerulean blue front door, she sees everything through her large, front window. She will save girls from prostitution.

Hester, a shy, gentle girl, belongs to a small group known as Christianos. Its meeting place is located opposite the Lupanar, with unfortunate consequences.

Lucius Attilius is addicted to gambling and women. It leads him into the Pompeii arena, where few gladiators die but many suffer severe injuries. He will find a love so strong that it overcomes even the sordid Lupanar.

Their lives intertwine as Vesuvius erupts. What will happen to the survivors?