Product Description

The story of Ayla begins when, as a five-year-old orphan, she is adopted by the Clan, a group of Neanderthals. Initially she inspires surprise, then wariness and finally acceptance by the Clan. She is cared for by its medicine woman, Iza, and its wise holy man, Creb. But she makes an implacable enemy of the group's future leader, Broud. He will do all he can to destroy her - but Ayla is a survivor.



Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life, rich in detail of language, culture, myth and ritual, has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3651 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Clan of the Cave Bear is the start of Jean M Auel's epic Earth's Children series. When her parents are killed by an earthquake, five-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badly injured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until she is discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, has little interest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer to as the "Others". Only their medicine woman sees in Ayla a fellow human, worthy of care. She painstakingly nurses her back to health--a decision that will forever alter the physical and emotional structure of the clan. Although this story takes place roughly 35,000 years ago, its cast of characters could easily slide into any modern tale. The members of the Neanderthal clan, ruled by traditions and taboos, find themselves challenged by this outsider, who represents the physically modern Cro-Magnons. And as Ayla begins to grow and mature, her natural tendencies emerge, putting her in the middle of a brutal and dangerous power struggle.

Although Jean Auel obviously takes certain liberties with the actions and motivations of all our ancestors, her extensive research into the Ice Age does shine through--especially in the detailed knowledge of plants and natural remedies used by the medicine woman and passed down to Ayla. Mostly, though, this first in the series of four is a wonderful story of survival. Ayla's personal evolution is a compelling and relevant tale. --Sara Nickerson, Amazon.com--This text refers to the hardcover edition.

New York Times
'Beautiful, exciting, imaginative'

Review
'Beautiful, exciting, imaginative' (New York Times )

'A major bestseller . . . a remarkable work of imagination' (Daily Express )

Customer Reviews

engrossing
I have read this book several times since it was first published and never tire of it. Jean M Auel has so obviously done a lot of research before embarking on this novel and by doing so has managed to re-create the ancient world of the neanderthals in a totally believable way.
It is such an evocative book, you can visualise the clan and their surroundings almost as if you were sat among them. The sights, sounds, smells, feel almost real. It makes for a fascinating glimpse into an ancient forgotten way of life.
Interwoven with this is the wonderful tale of Ayla, the young cro-magnon girl adopted by a neanderthal clan after she is orphaned. Her struggles to become one of the clan and the interaction between all of the main characters makes for a totally absorbing read.
This book works so well on all levels and I would highly recommend it.

Simply amazing
My dad had been trying for almost 10 years to get me to read the Earth's Children series. I finally picked it up at Christmas, and now, 5 months later, I have just started the fourth book - and that's even with my job and my university studies!!

This is an incredible series that grasps you right from the start and sucks you into the prehistoric world, and never lets you go. The Clan of the Cave Bear sets the standards which the following instalments live up to, describing in such detail every action and motive behind the characters lives.

It's easy to see just how much research was involved, and it makes you truly believe that this was how things once were. Whereas other books try to incorporate as much detail and simply succeed in boring you to tears, this series is so well written that it holds your attention, and, for me at least, I never want to stop reading, because I can't wait to see what happens to Ayla. She's such a strong character, one with which I'm sure many people can identify with.

I've told everyone I know about the Earth's Children series so that they too can enter the world of prehistoric man. Incredible. Breath taking. Brilliant.

Stunning
I first read this book when I was fifteen and although I enjoyed it, it was really wasted on me then, having recently re-read it I have only just grasped the sheer scale of the thing. The clan of the cave bear is the beginning of an epic story set against the breathtaking backdrop of the ice age. It is the story of Ayla, a girl who is taken in and raised by a clan of neanderthals after her family dies in an earthquake. The story follows her through her childhood and all the traumas involved, some of which are about being raised by people who do not really understand her species, some that are particular to prehistoric living and other problems which are common to all human beings. Jean M Auel is an expert on neanderthals and all her hard work studying the subject has really paid off in this book and the sequels, the books probably contain more information about surviving in the wild than most survival guides. They also have a lot of details about prehistoric animals and societies that can only be the product of extensive research and a fantastic imagination. This is the first in a series which follows Ayla on her journey, both literal and metaphorical, as she searches for a place where she belongs. The characters she meets along the way are all beautifully depicted, living, breathing people. A small warning though, if you read this book you will have to go on and read the rest of the series and there are five in all!