Below is a chronological list of novels and novellas that are mainly set in Pompeii. Early works are in the public domain, and where available I have provided a link to read online. Cataloguing every Pompeii novel post-2000 is an impossible task, but I have over 400 books on my VQ Goodreads profile which may also be of interest.

1700-1899

  • L’Histoire de Juliette ou les Prospérités du vice, the Marquis de Sade, 1797
  • Das Grab am Vesuv, Carl Nicolai, 1818
  • Le Dernier Jour De Pompei, Delphine De Girardin, 1828
  • The Vestal, or a Tale of Pompeii, Thomas Gray, 1830
  • Una Notte Sulle Rovine Di Pompei, Giacinto Bianco, 1833
  • The Last Days of Pompeii, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1834
  • L’Improvvisatore, Hans Christian Andersen, 1835
  • The Coiners of Pompeii: a Romance, Richard Ryland, 1845
  • Arria Marcella, Théophile Gautier, 1852
  • Mary Brown at Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum: an Instructive Story For Boys and Girls, Esther Fenn, 1856
  • Marcus Charinus, der junge Christ in Pompeji, Eduard Alberti, 1872
  • La Maison Maudite (novella included within Nouvelles Cosmopolites Moeurs Coutumes de Divers Peuples de l’Europe), Anaïs de Bassanville/Comtesse de Bassanville, 1880
  • In der Morgenröthe (included within Pompejanische Novellen und andere), Woldemar Kaden, 1882
  • Lost in Pompeii, H.H. Clark, 1883
  • Alvira: the Heroine of Vesuvius, A.J. O’Reilly, 1885
  • The Slave Girl of Pompeii, or: By a Way They Knew Not, E.S. Holt, 1887
  • El Anacronópete, Enrique Gaspar, 1887
  • жертвы вулкана (The Victims of the Volcano), Даниил Лукич Мордовцев (D.L. Mordovtsev), 1891

1800-1999

  • Gradiva: a Pompeiian Fantasy, Wilhelm Jensen, 1902
  • Das sterbende Pompeji, Gustav Adolf Müller, 1910
  • Les Bacchantes, Léon Daudet, 1931
  • Pompeiana Juventus, Emilio Garro, 1942
  • Fire in the Sky: Story of a Boy of Pompeii, Lois Hamilton Fuller, 1965
  • Amore e Morte a Pompei by Oscar Rosoni, 1970
  • В Помпеях был праздник (?Pompeii Had a Feast) by Моисеева Клара Моисеевна (Klara Moiseevna) (1972)
  • The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag (1992)
  • Shadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis (1990)
  • Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborn (1998)

2000 – Present

With the explosion of the publishing and self-publishing industries in the 21st century, it is impossible to name every Pompeii novel published after the year 2000. Below, I have included all the bestselling titles as well as those with a fair number of Goodreads ratings or that I feel are of note. Check my Goodreads shelves for a closer-to-definitive list (I am likely missing a lot as I mostly searched for titles including variations on Pompeii and Vesuvius).

  • Under Vesuvius by John Maddox Roberts (2001)
  • The Secrets of Vesuvius (2001) and The Pirates of Pompeii (2002) by Caroline Lawrence
  • Pompeii by Robert Harris (2003)
  • Doctor Who: The Algebra of Ice by Lloyd Rose (2004)
  • The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss (2004)
  • The Last Girls of Pompeii by Kathryn Lasky (2007)
  • Pompeii: a Roman Girl’s Diary, AD 78 by Sue Reid (2008)
  • You Wouldn’t Want to Live in Pompeii! A Volcanic Eruption You’d Rather Avoid by John Malam (2008)
  • Captives of New Pompeii by Aubrey Ross (2010)
  • Pompeii: City on Fire by Tracy Higley (2011)
  • The Left Hand of Calvus by Ann Gallagher (2012)
  • Pompeii: a Tale of Murder in Ancient Rome and sequels by Robert Colton (2012)
  • The Far Time Incident by Neve Malasakovic (2013)
  • A Day of Fire: a Novel of Pompeii by Kate Quinn (2014)
  • A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (2014)
  • Curses and Smoke: a Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter (2014)
  • I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79 by Lauren Tarshis (2014)
  • Diary of Dorkius Maximus in Pompeii by Tim Collins (2014)
  • Peril in Pompeii! Nickolas Flux and the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius by Nel Yomtov (2014)
  • A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (2014)
  • Doomsday in Pompeii by Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker (2015)
  • New Pompeii (2016) and Empire of Time (2017) by Daniel Godfrey
  • Vesuvius by Night by Lindsey Davis (2017)
  • In the Garden of the Fugitives by Ceridwen Dovey (2018)
  • The Pompeii Disaster by Dan Gutman (2018)
  • From Hell by Greig Beck (2019)
  • The Paninis of Pompeii by Andy Stanton (2019)
  • In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander (2020)
  • From the Ashes by Melissa Addey (2021)
  • The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper (2021)
  • Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii Novelisation by James Moran (2022)
    • The Ashes of Pompeii by Janelle McCurdy in Doctor Who: The Adventures After (2025)
  • Promises in Pompeii by Violet Morley (2022)
  • Delta and the Lost City by Anna Fargher (2024)
  • Pompeii City of Gay Sex: a Novel by Evan D. Berg (2024)
  • Remember Pompeii by Kika Emers (2024)
  • Shadows in the Ashes by Christina Courtenay (2024)
  • Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore (2024)
  • Vesuvius by Cass Biehn (2025)
  • Gladiator, Goddess by Morgan H. Owen (2025)
  • Poisoned in Pompeii by Zara Keane (2026)
  • Puzzle in Pompeii: a Pick-Your-Own-Path Adventure by Tim Collins (2026)