From Publishers Weekly
In a novel that will evoke comparisons with Jean Auel's Earth Children series, the author of a trilogy about the making of modern Britain (most recently, The Edge of Night ) now tries her hand at Ice Age Europe. Though it contains none of the elaborate and flowery prose that often mars Auel's work, the novel also lacks the detailed research that makes that novelist's work so convincing. Wolf's introduction of a three-word cave-person vocabulary--"sa" (yes); "na" (no); and "dhu" (where)--is a distracting affectation. The remainder of the language is explained in a curious afterword in which Wolf maintains that the book is a "fable" based on speculation. A tragedy that deprives a tribe of all of its female members forces the clan's young men to kidnap and assimilate the distaff members of another tribe. The ensuing saga, though often predictable, intertwines the fate of the marauders with that of the violated tribe. The former is patriarchal, the latter a matriarchy. In a tritely upbeat fashion, the story ends with the melding of the best of both cultures. Despite its drawbacks, for many readers this will be a satisfying and broadly accessible prehistoric drama. First serial to Good Housekeeping; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-- A skillfully woven story of romance, intrigue, and conflict set in prehistoric southern France. When the women of the Tribe of the Horse die from polluted water, the young men kidnap women from the matriarchal Tribe of the Red Deer to keep their clan from extinction. The success of the raid causes dissention in the male ranks of the Tribe of the Horse. Mar, the leader of the younger men, must deal with the tribal conflict, as well as his feelings for Alin, the beautiful daughter of the Red Deer priestess and ``Chosen One'' of the Mother Goddess. Resolution of the conflict between the generations, the sexes, the gods, and Alin and Mar make fascinating reading.
- Carol Clark, R.E. Lee High School, Springfield, VACopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
