The Clan of the Cave Bear

Earth's Children, Book 1

By: Jean M. Auel

Narrated by: Sandra Burr

Length: 22 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

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 lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.

Listen to more in the Earth's Children series.

©1980 by Jean M. Auel. (P)1986 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Imaginative, exciting." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Jean Auel has performed a minor miracle." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Better after 30-some years!

I read The Clan of Cave Bear when it first came out a very long time ago. I loved it and read it again a few years later. As each new book in the series became available, I bought and devoured them. None were as good as the original, but I relished the detail provided in each on natural history and different cultural practices. Of course, all of it is a fantasy. How realistic is it to attribute the domestication of animals and the inventions of so many technologies to one prehistoric young woman? But the books were all fun to read, and I enjoyed them on that level.

Having discovered that the final book in the Earth's Children series will be coming out at the end of March, I decided to listen to the original story of Ayla and the Neanderthals on my iPod, especially in light of new DNA evidence pointing to our genetic connection with them. I absolutely loved listening to the audiobook version of my old favorite! I went about my business, earphones on, for three days until I had finished it. Then I downloaded The Valley of Horses and continued Ayla's saga. My goal is to complete all books in this series before The Land of the Painted Caves is released. Hopefully audible will have it available.

The Clan of the Cave Bear is definitely the best of the series in terms of plot and character development. I recommend this audiobook highly and I'm looking forward to listening to Painted Caves! Ayla seems like an old friend and I have missed her between books.

Very interesting

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this books story line and will look for the next in the series.

Love it

It's a classic. I never get tired of these books! This author truly enjoyed her work.

Favorite series, rediscovered via Audible

The narrator was not my favorite, especially in the "young" Ayla, but the storyline is so amazing that I still gave it 5 stars overall.

Very enjoyable book

What made the experience of listening to The Clan of the Cave Bear the most enjoyable?

I found this book to be very enjoyable mostly because the author spent a lot of time in the minds of the characters, going through their thoughts and inner debates. I find this very interesting in a story. For example, I enjoyed the novelization of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith much better than the movie (which still was good) because it got into Anakin's head. In this book, you can really see what Ayla and the other characters are thinking, and that makes me bond with them more. I also liked the time spent just explaining how the people of this prehistoric time lived. I found it fascinating.

Which character – as performed by Sandra Burr – was your favorite?

Ayla, of course, is the heroine, and so I liked her the best. But I also liked Creb and Brun. They were both honest and virtuous. (I don't know if I spelled the names right, because I only know them from listening.)

Any additional comments?

I definitely plan on reading the other books in this series. This was a fairly long book, and so it took me about 3 weeks driving back and forth to work to get through it. When it was over, I found I missed it.

I read this long ago and loved it

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would. The performers catch "the essence" of the story

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Clan of the Cave Bear?

When Ayla looked in the water and saw her reflection

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The story of the "Missing Link"

Very good story

I was not sure that book could keep my interest but it did all of the way until the end.

Strong Story, Weak Recording

This is one of my all time favorite series so I was excited to get it in audiobook format. The narration was pretty good except she seem like she was rushing through it. The sound quality is poor, sometime it echoed or has a static quality as thought it was a vinyl record. Not sure if these issues were due to the age of the recoding or the sound editing. I still got to the end and enjoyed the story as much as the first time I read the books.

A favorite

I have read this book many times. This is my first time listening to it. I enjoyed it immensely. Has made my day go by much quicker, especially at work.

Great except for...

There were times I felt that the reading was just way too fast for the mood. I know it's a long reading and it's hard because it's so many hours, but there are certain periods where it should be slowed down.