But I like it for its large, sweeping vision of a time different than our own, for its wide use of female perspectives, for its parable-like qualities, for its subject matter, for its drama! I have some issues with it - it's often contrived (especially in dialogues), it suffers from a little too much 'rich and beautiful description,' and it's outdated (which is not Auel's fault - we didn't think Homo neandertalensis could speak until well after the book was written). I'd heard much about it already from other folks, notably my parents, who had really enjoyed the first few books when they came out. I looked up Venus worship, and there was Jean M.

I was craving some discourse about the Goddess, and craving some insights and ideas about these figurines with whom I identify to a very literal, surface extent. So, I picked up this book at the story right after the Venus of Hohle Fels showed up on my radar.

He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.įirst in the acclaimed Earth's Children® series But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza's way of healing, most come to accept her. To them, blonde, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly-she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Auel's magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear.Ī natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love.

The clan of the cave bear author