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)

Clan of the Cave Bear

This is, by far, one of my favorite series. It begins with "Clan of the Cave Bear." Jean Auel brings us a detailed and wonderful saga, a poignant story that goes right to the heart. Like Beth, for me, it ranks up there with the "Outlander" Series by Diana Gabaldon. I do wish Audible would get the third book, "The Mammoth Hunters." It's weird to have a missing book, especially smack dab in the middle of the series.

Although the story is fantastic, I wish the narrator put a bit mroe emotion into the reading. At times, it was a bit stagnant. All in all, I enjoyed it very much and I'd certainly listen to it again.

A GOOD MEDICINE WOMAN IS A GOOD MEDICINE WOMAN

LEARN TO UNDERSTAND WITH YOUR HEART AND MIND
I believe this is my third time to read or listen to this. I know I read it in the eighties and I believe this is my second time to listen. Ayla is a strong female character in a world dominated by men. A world where a woman can not speak to a man without permission. Auel researches her books more then the average writer. Her books are normally published years apart, because of the amount of research she does. To some, the detail of the medicines, herbs and rituals may be overly taxing. The first time I read it, I thought what a great book, but so much survival detail. At an older age, I find myself appreciating the work that went into making this series as accurate as possible. The story of Ayla is the main reason for listening. She will tug at your heart strings, sometimes breaking them. I am sure this is not the last time I will listen.

Almost every book in this series is a five star listen for me. This book and the follow up Valley of Horses are my favorites. This is a classic. This could fit in lots of genre's and it is a classic in all of them. The ending is controversial for this book. I recommended the book to my mom and she loved it until the ending and then she refused to read any more in the series. It made her that mad. This book causes that much emotion. It is not a text book.

I thought the narrator was okay. Not great, but also not distracting.

Love the story but...

I have read the series twice over the years but this is the first time I’ve listened. Still love the story of Ayla but have to say that many times the narrator sounded as if she was reading a story to third graders. Almost stopped listening because of it but love of the story prompted me to continue. Not sure if I’ll go on to the second or go back to reading the book.

I enjoyed it thoroughly

I enjoyed "rereading" this book, a favorite from my childhood. I look forward to listening to the next one! I enjoy the narrator as well, although some of the editing was noticeable.

That's series at Everett thank you Jean Auel

For the last 31 years I have read this book about 16 times if not more. this is the best series of books I have ever read and will always love them the next 31 years. my sister had a stroke and I gave her this series of books on a CD and I told her this is a gift that keeps on giving year after year she has died now and I missed her so much but we did share this series together and I miss her so much because we never stop talking about it she has read it as much as I had and I miss her because no one understands Ayla as much as we did together. I like to thank Jean Auel for her work that she has done on this series and all the researchers that helped her and would love to know if she will ever write the seventh book. I miss Ayla. I want to know more about her I want to know about her daughter what happen to her son what happened to her husband many things I want to know but if the painted caves is the last book that she will ever write about Ayla she has given me a lifetime of entertainment thank you so much Jean Auel.

History and culture made interesting

If you like to imagine what life must have been like for our neanderthal brethren and more primitive homo sapien ancestors, you'll like this book.

I've read it at least eight times and listened to the audiobook about three times - it never gets old. It's like what James Cameron did with the tragedy of Titanic. He made history come to life and added some drama to make the history even more interesting.

Occasionally, the author loses me with the drawn out descriptions of plants, geography, or the history of the land - some times I skip these parts to get to back to the story.

But I do love the descriptions and historical references - so much research went into making this story that gives us a look into what life must have been like for our more primitive anscestors. The details of how certain flora and fauna are used as medicine and food is fascinating to me. Life before a pharmacy . . .

The culture of differenct races and how much fact it is based on - thinking of how our ancestors might have behaved or what customs they may have had . . . it captivates me.

Ayla, the main character, is (if I'm being completely honest) a bit of a stretch - she basically

SPOILER (minor one) ALERT FOR VALLEY OF HORSES AND MAMMOTH HUNTERS (sequels to this book)

discovers all the more modern concepts and conveniences we take for granted. For instance, she invents things like the sewing needle and the domestication of animals (not in this book, but the sequels).

But I honestly never noticed or cared how over the top some things are. The way these kinds of discoveries must have come about would have been under similar circumstances, I'm just sure they weren't all discovered in one lifetime. Who cares though? The book is grounded in so much real history, the awesomeness of Ayla makes the history come to life.

Ayla and her adopted clan captured my heart. My dad gave me this book to read when I was probably 10 or 12. It is my favorite and probably always will be.

Oh, and the sequels are fun and interesting also, but start getting more and more drawn out and boring as they go, in my humble opinion. I never made it through Plains of Passage or Shelters of Stone, but I did try. The first one in this series is the best.

Great listen

Well written and narrator did a good job reading the book. I will be buying the second one.

revisiting a classic

Ms. Auel does a masterful job building a fascinating. story that brings to life a hidden part of our past. invented with great care, the story of Ayla is entirely believable.

great story!

love love love love love it. I miss Isa already. can't wait to hear what happens with Ayla the cave lioness next!

So good!

There is such detail and enjoyment in this book. I actually sobbed at the end. This author truly knows how to keep the reader engaged. Love it!