| This novel takes place in a prehistoric setting, approximately 35,000 years ago. During this time, there were two prominant species of what will become humans. They are the Others, which are very similar to the modern human, and the Clan, which resemble Neanderthals.
A tragic earthquake rumbles the land, leaving a child of the "others" homeless. She, being only a little girl of 4-5, has no one to take care of her and wanders around for several weeks just trying to survive. She eventually collapses besides a pond from hunger and exhaustion, and thought it looks bleak for her, she runs into a bit of luck. At the same time, a group of the "Clan" people were also moving; the cave that had served as their home had been destroyed due to the Earthquake. They spot this child named Ayla, and decided to leave her there, mainly because she was different and because she was of no use to them. But before they left, the childless medicine women sees Ayla and wants to help her. She is allowed to do so, and eventually Ayla becomes accepted into the clan and is believed to be good luck for many reasons, she is even allowed to train as the next medicine women. Ayla helps find the new cave, saves several lives, and acts as a respectable clan women, not as one of the others.While everyone else is getting used to Ayla and her different appearence and ways, she is subtly frowned upon by a couple members of the clan; this only adds to the persecution that is building up against her. There is one person among those in the clan who hates her with every fiber of his body, and for no reason in particular. This is Broud, and it is unfortunate for Ayla that he hates her, because he is the future clan leader. Since at this time men dominated women and could order them around, Ayla had to do pretty much anything that Broud requested. He sought out his revenge by beating her for no reason, and forcing her to cater to his every whim. Ayla though, learns to put up with him, and even resists the clan by learning an art that is forbidedn by women: hunting. She recieves sever punishment for this, and endures a death curse that she eventually pulls out of. In the end when Bround becomes the leader, he banishes her, and she is forced to search for and join her people: the Others. Throughout this story, Ayla stays strong, and as a minority survives with pride. Even though in the end she was banished, she received great honor. This was because Bround let himself be so intimidated by a women, a women of minority, so he could only banish her to satisfy his hatred. As Ayla is leaving, Broud's father (past clan leader) tells Ayla that she would have made a better leader than Broud, and the feeling is unanimous in the Clan. Who would ever have that that someone so different could be herself, and gain the highest regards for doing so. So the point of all this is to fight for your rights, and that the most unexpected people can rise above what anyone thought possible. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1600-1899 - Romance/Romance Problems Yes Life of a profession: Kind of sex: - rape Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Job/Profession/Status story Yes Taboo sex story? Yes Woman's story? Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a kid Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - a teen How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 10 () Mountains/Cliffs Yes Forest? Yes Writing Style Sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - impregnation/reproduction - actual description of hetero sex - Boob talk! - rape/molest Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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