The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel

Genre: Historical Fiction

I'd been waiting for quite some time to read this book, and I've been working on it off and on for a couple of weeks whilst doing other things. I've been enjoying the read. I honestly wish I had more time to read. It would have been a blast to just sit down and read this book without many breaks in between.

The Clan of the Cave Bear is only the first of a series of 6 called Earth's Children, which is still in the making. Book 6 just came out in March of 2011. This book is about a girl named Ayla who loses her family in a huge earthquake. She travels off alone and nearly dies from starvation. She becomes wounded and is then discovered by a Clan of bow-legged Cave people who adopt her. She's unaccepted by many of the Clan, and deviates from the clan ways until she grows older. She soon becomes accepted through good fortune. In many ways it's obvious that she's different than the people of her new clan, not only to her but to them as well. A boy named Broud becomes the new leader, and through the entire book he loathes her, maybe because he feels threatened by her. So he gets his revenge by banishing her.

There's a whole lot more to this book than I've discussed above, but if you really want to know more about it you can just read the book. ;)

Back Cover:
"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 lived in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge."

This book was pretty awesome. It has a great character development, and you can really see the strength Ayla develops through all of her hardships she's faced with. I grew to love some of the characters as well. Ayla, of course our lead, is a very strong woman and I am always fond of strong female leads. Iza, the medicine woman whose very ill, but so loving toward her children. Creb, an old cripple who teaches Ayla to speak their language and becomes quite fond of her. Finally, Brun, whose the leader of the Clan for most of the book, who bends the rules a little when he sees how strong Ayla is. This book is definitely worth a read. If you don't read this book, then you're seriously missing out on an amazing story! Even if this book were a standalone novel, it would still be freaking awesome. But I can't wait to read book #2.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.