The Clan Of The Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth’s Children Series #1) by Jean M. Auel – 480 pages

This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love. Through Jean M. 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.
A 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. To them, blond, 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. 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. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. 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.

When many kids in the mid ‘80’s were glued to this book, I had not yet learned to appreciate historical fiction or any type of fantasy book. Shame on me. Thankfully I decided to go delve into the bottom of my TBR pile and read this book because I loved it. Adventure, courage, acceptance, ignorance, magic, love and hate are what fuels this story. With my TBR list as tall as it is, I’m not sure I’m going to dig into the next in the series for a while.