Review: ‘The Clan Of The Cave Bear’ by Jean M. Auel

OK, so this review was requested by one of my twitter friends, @EponaReviews, who has just bought herself a copy of this amazing book, and is (I believe) awaiting its arrival.

[I have tried to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible].

‘The Clan Of The Cave Bear’ is the first book in Jean Auel’s incredible ‘Earth’s Children’ series. Set in prehistoric times, the first book follows the early life of Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon girl, as she’s separated from her people and adopted by a roaming clan of Neanderthals. Together, we get to see Ayla grow as a character, becoming stronger and stronger, despite all the difficulties she faces – of which, there are a lot.

You can tell that Jean Auel has carried out substantial amounts of research, ranging from hunting and the lifestyles of prehistoric people, to the properties that the plants have. All of these have been cleverly weaved into the narrative, without bogging the reader down.

Although very little is known about the lives of people 33,000 years ago, the detailed lifestyles that Auel has given her characters seems very realistic.  When I looked up the culture of prehistoric people, I found that a lot of the things in this book is actually based on archaeologists’ findings–adding a further authenticity to the story–which have then be further developed and integrated into the characters’ culture. This, in turn, added more depth and ‘realness’ to the characters, making them very believable.

And, because of this, it only helps you relate to the main character, who is a very relatable-character in the first place. Two things that I loved about Ayla were how she remained strong throughout the book, but also how her empathetic side was shown in many scenes.

Although a lot of research has gone into this book, it doesn’t necessary make it factual. After all, it is fiction, and a delight to read. With Ayla coming from a Cro-Magnon family, and the rest of the characters being Neanderthals, Auel has speculated on the interactions between these two types of humans, but has done it in such a realistic way, setting up almost political systems and conflict between the two.

The characterisation for all the characters (major and minor ones) is absolutely superb. Not only are we given Ayla’s motivations and thoughts, but through her feelings it is possible to understand other characters’ attitudes towards her. These have also been further developed, as the third person narrative, is not just from Ayla’s point of view, (although the majority of it is), and therefore adding more ‘flesh’ to characters like Iza, Creb and Broud.

I particularly loved the hunting scenes, and those where Ayla is unknowingly breaking the Neanderthals’ ‘rules’ of life. I feel that parts of this novel could also be interpreted as a feminist novel (by some people) due to the detailed culture that Auel has created for the Neanderthals–or the ‘clan’, as they call themselves–in which men and women have very different roles.

[Slight spoiler-alert!] One of my favourite scenes was one where Ayla had found an ill rabbit, and was determined to treat it and make it better, taking it to the ‘healer’ of her group. Not only does this show Ayla’s determination, but also her compassionate and caring side, making her more believable and relatable. This also made me want to be friends with her, and so when one of the main events of the novel happens, I really felt for her, and wanted to help her.

This book is basically about the journey of Ayla’s life, and the discoveries she makes, whether these be technological discoveries, or understanding human nature better.

In a way, through this book, Auel is teaching her readers valuable lessons, as well as extending our own knowledge of nature.

Major themes of this book are discovery, innocence, coming of age, human nature and conflict.

Due to the adult nature of some of the content in this book, I’d recommend that you only read this book if you’re above 16, although other reviewers have recommended it for 18+, and even 21+.

This book is definitely worth reading, and everyone who I’ve spoke to have said that it’s brilliant, and that they had to read the whole series (six amazing books).

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.