This is the second of the earth’s children series; it follows on from the wonderful "Clan of the cave bear". Ayla
having
been issued with a death curse by Broud, and cast out of the only
community she has ever known separated from Durc her son, she battles for her
survival as she journeys to find her own kind.
She is hunter, gatherer, medicine woman; we don’t doubt that
she has the wherewithal to survive physically. How will she cope with the
loneliness, how will she find the Others?
As she heads north towards the glacier and into winter your
armchair will feel chilly. You will be relieved when she happens upon a lush
valley out of the path of the biting winds. It is of course full of horses.
Cast out alone she must fulfil all functions for herself if
she is to survive, she battles against her upbringing trying to obey the
customs of the clan whilst needing to do break them. Her industrious nature and
her analytical abilities so despised of by the clan helps her find ways of
doing multi-person tasks as an individual person.
She is still the kind hearted Ayla, she rescues both a horse
and a baby cave lion rearing them in her own cave, healing and feeding them,
they become the companions she longs for.
Meanwhile a pair of handsome brothers are setting off on a
journey they are tested and only through the timely intervention of others on a
number of occasions do they survive.
We discover the prejudice of the others towards the clan as
the journey progresses.
Stories of love and loss are interwoven. When Jondalar
finally meets Ayla we follow his feelings from near Goddess worship to disgust
– when he realises she was brought up by the clan – and had a half and half
baby. The path of their love is hampered misunderstandings and hurt caused by a
difference in language and more importantly customs.
Finally Jondalar must go home, Ayla wonders if she can stand
the loneliness once more…