The Clan of the Cave Bear is the first novel of a saga called Earth’s Children. Written by Jean M. Auel between 1980 et 2011, it made up of seven fictional volumes relating the life of the Cro-Magnon and the Neanderthal man.

This first book was published in 1980. The Clan of the Cave Bear turned into a film in 1986, it was directed by Michael Chapman.

The story occured 35 000 years ago in Europe and in those initial days, Alya, a five-years-old little girl outlived an earthquake. Now an orphaned and vulnerable children, she wandered a few hours to forage and got scratched by a big cave lion. She took refuge towards a foreign clan where, once she recovered, she was noticed because of her many skills.

This book enables the readers to learn more about the beginning of the human being, it is a way to entertain while acquiring knowledge about the Cro-Magnon and his daily life, his behaviour when he is facing an another man or an unexpected event. Moreover I guess the author had to do a great deal of research even if I think she had to invent some details so that the story become more realistic and could also be anchored in our era, in our time. If anyone reads the book without know the summary, he can suppose that the story takes place in a prehistoric world even if several events are linked with our everyday life. The manner in which some scenes are described adds credibilty to the story, as though we were 35 000 years ago. I think this book is worth reading !