Ayla is tall, thin, blonde and not very woman-like. A very ugly woman in fact. She doesn’t fit in with the Clan, but she considers herself to be Clan, even though, she’s in fact one of the Others. But her mother is Iza, a medicine woman of the Clan. Because of where she came from, her life just is difficult, with both drama and happy moments.
I started reading this book in 2012. No, I didn’t spend the entire 2013 reading it. In fact I didn’t read it at all for about a year and a half because of various things going on in my life. I just put the book on the shelf, even if I was not far from the end. Stupid move, I know, but here we now are…
This book is set in pre-historic Europe, with the Clan being Neanderthals and Ayla being… whatever pre-historic woman she is. I admit, my knowledge is very lacking in the pre-historic department. The book itself cover a span of maybe 10 years (I just don’t know, okay? Here and there you learn how old she is, but it’s spread out in a brick, seriously) of Ayla’s life – from when she first was found at age 4 or 5 until she become a spirit having to leave the clan and her two-something year old boy.
It’s a very matter-of-factly written brick novel where – for most part – it uses “complicated” terms. I say “complicated” as in, it’s not written in such a simply language the pre-historic humans would have – most likely – described things. It’s not either romanticising about this time, but seems very real. The setting is realistic, the emotions are real, I cried my eyes out at some point because I synced with Ayla.
I hate history, honestly, there’s nothing worse than history (or maybe philosophy and social studies, but at least it’s up there!), but I really like historic novels. Because they are fiction. I think? So yeah, I liked it. I don’t think everyone would enjoy this brick novel, but I did, even though I put it on the shelf for over a year. I’m just forgetful, seriously.
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The Clan of the Cave Bear: Earth’s Children, Book One (Mass Market Paperback)
The Clan of the Cave Bear: Earth’s Children, Book One (Paperback)
The Clan of the Cave Bear: Earth’s Children, Book One (Library binding)
The Clan of the Cave Bear (with Bonus Content): Earth’s Children, Book One (Kindle)
The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth’s Children® Series) (Audiobook)
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