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Crown Publishing, May 2011

Six books. 3,885 pages. Thirty-four years in the creation. A major key to writing a sustained narrative — and the Children of Earth series is certainly that — is maintaining consistency throughout the process. With The Land of Painted Caves, the final installment in the life of Ayla, Jean Auel has proven that she is the mistress of the pre-history genre.

Jean Auel has created a pre-historic world that is remarkably consistent and reasonably accurate in a series that spans 21 years in the life of Ayla.

From the time we first meet her at age 5, seriously wounded by a cave lion, to age 26, married (“mated”) with her own 6-year old daughter, we follow her intellectual and spiritual growth from the depths of the interaction between Neanderthal-Cromagnon life to that of a fully functioning, burgeoning modern human.

Auel has never condescended in how she presents the various cultures and peoples that inhabit each of her novels. Each is presented with care, consistency, and respect whether Clan or human, Mamutoi or Zelandonii. A criticism of this book and the series is that she so frequently repeats information. That is not an entirely valid criticism, however, as a pre-literate, oral society would do exactly that. Repetition is how adults passed information along and created memories in the young so it is appropriate to repeat information.

Each of her novels, and this one is no exception, has had a strong anthropological underpinning. While more recent research has suggested that some of her facts are no longer accurate, they are “factual” within the context of the world she has created.

In this case, the caves of central, modern France form the setting. Auel’s descriptions of these caves whet one’s appetite for visiting them in order to see the magnificent paintings on their walls. Her descriptions of the largesse of nature remind us of how to live without the accoutrements of modern society. Bison, for example, are a source for food, horns for drinking cups, hooves to make glue to attach spear points to shafts, stomachs for water bags, intestines to store fat and make waterproof coverings for hats and footwear, and hides for clothing and tents.

The plot of The Land of Painted Caves is simple. Ayla, Jondalar (her mate), Jonayla (their daughter), and others are on a trip across what is now central France. Ayla is on a Donier journey to see and learn about these caves which are central to the worship of the Earth Mother, and to determine whether she will eventually assume the role of spiritual leader to the Ninth Cave. The trials and tribulations that she confronts and must conquer along the way awaken in her a stronger sense of community and caring for those around her.

The entire series has been a passage of discovery for Ayla. She learns and refines healing and hunting arts, how to work with people of different cultures, and how to fit into a family. These episodic adventures help her grow toward becoming a Zelandoni, a spiritual leader and healer for her cave or community. This final novel is the culmination of Ayla’s journey of self-discovery and an imaginative account of how we—through Ayla’s story—became modern humans.

Despite its rambling, episodic narrative, The Land of Painted Caves is an appropriate conclusion to this long tale. It is a saga that, in Ayla’s time, would have been told around a fire as the evening’s entertainment. It must also be a story for our time as Auel’s previous books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide with four of the previous books reaching number one on the New York Times bestseller list.



Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.