Ayla is little more than an infant when an earthquake destroys her home and claims her family. She wanders for days without food and shelter, eventually falling prey to a cave lion, who visciously slashes her leg. Wounded and alone, she's found on the brink of death by Iza, the medicine woman of the Clan. She adopts Ayla as a daughter and raises her to be a medicine woman of her line. But Ayla is different from the rest of the Clan, and there are some who never truly accept her. She must find the strength within herself to find her place in a confusing and dangerous world.
In The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel gives readers her unique perspective on the lives of neanderthals. By making the protagonist homo sapiens, it gives readers a comfortable lens through which to view this very different and yet very similar race of humans. Ayla herself is a highly likeable protagonist: she has plenty of gumption and curiosity, and the situations she gets herself into will keep you turning tha pages. Be warned however; while Auel's sweeping exposition on subjects like cultural evolution and ecology are interesting and informative, to some readers they grow repetitive by the end of the book (or in any subsequent readings).
This book is the first of her Earth's Children series. NB: In The Valley of Horses, the second book in the series, Auel's style morphs to include elements of the romance genre, including explicit love scenes.
View my suggested books by Jean M. Auel
I've read and own most of this series. I started reading it when I was a freshman in high school and have been reading as the last few books have come out. Well, except for Shelters of Stone and the Painted Caves. I own Shelters of Stone and just haven't read it yet for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI liked The Shelters of Stone, but struggled with The Land of Painted Caves. Auel's love of pre-history really shows in her latest book. There is a lot of page time dedicated to the cave paintings.
DeleteIt sounds like it will be quite interesting. I've heard that this is going to be the last book in the series. Does it end in a final sort of way, or does she leave room for more?
DeleteIt's left right open for a sequel. I highly doubt it'll be the last.
ReplyDeleteI read this book out of my middle school library at the age of eleven. Ohhh, man, did that librarian not realize what she was getting me into. It was, ah, informative.
ReplyDeleteVery droll, Mari. You and me both.
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