Meet Jacob aka Sparrow a boy slave in a brothel in the Spanish city of New Carthage in the last years of pagan Rome. His story is as much for readers who were moved by &i>A Little Life&/i>,&i> Room&/i> and &i>Shuggie Bain &/i>as those fascinated by &i>The Silence of the Girls &/i>and &i>I, Claudius&/i>.