The Valley of Horses
Forced to leave the Clan and her young son; Ayla sets out alone to travel the frigid steppes until she finds the valley of horses. Unable to find people like herself; the Cro-Magnons; she settles there and seeks friendship elsewhere. First she adopts a young filly; then a wounded lion cub. But far to the west; two young Cro-Magnon brothers have begun a journey. One of them is Jondalar; whose destiny is bound inextricably with Ayla's. Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life; rich in detail of language; culture; myth and ritual; has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world.
The Clan of the Cave Bear
Leave 21st century London and go back to Ice Age Europe. Follow Ayla; a Cro-Magnon child who loses her parents in an earthquake and is adopted by a tribe of Neanderthal; the Clan. See how the Clan's wary suspicion is gradually transformed into acceptance of this girl; so different from them; under the guidance of its medicine woman Iza and its wise holy man Creb. Immerse yourself in a world dictated by the demands of survival in a hostile environment; and be swept away in an epic tale of love; identity and struggle.
The Mammoth Hunters
Leaving the valley of horses with Jondalar; the handsome man she has nursed back to health and come to love; Ayla embarks on a journey that will lead her to the Mamutoi; the Mammoth Hunters. But as she settles into this new life among a people at first strange and disturbingly different; Ayla finds herself irresistibly drawn to Ranec; their master-carver. Ultimately; she is compelled to make a fateful choice between the two men.
The Plains of Passage
Ayla and Jondalar leave the safety of the lands of the Mammoth Hunters and embark on a seemingly impossible journey across an entire continent. Their goal is the Cro-Magnon settlement in what is now southern France where Jondalar lived as a young man. Accompanied by the half-tame Wolf; the superb stallion; Racer; and the mare; Whinney; they brave both savage enemies and the elemental dangers of weather and terrain in their search for the place that will become Home.
The Shelters of Stone
Ayla and Jondalar have reached home: the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii; the old stone age settlement in the region known today as south-west France. Ayla has much to learn from the Zelandonii as well as much to teach them. Jondalar's family are initially wary of the beautiful young woman he has brought back; with her strange accent and her tame wolf and horses. She is delighted when she meets Zelandoni; the spiritual leader of her people; a fellow healer with whom she can share her medicinal skills. After the rigours and dangers that have characterised her extraordinary life; Ayla yearns for peace and tranquillity; to be Jondalar's mate and to have children. But her unique spiritual gifts cannot be ignored; and even as she gives birth to their eagerly-awaited child; she is coming to accept that she has a greater role to play in the destiny of the Zelandonii.
The land of Painted caves
THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES concludes the story of Ayla; her mate Jondalar; and their little daughter; Jonayla; taking readers on a journey of discovery and adventure as Ayla struggles to find a balance between her duties as a new mother and her training to become a Zelandoni - one of the Ninth Cave community's spiritual leaders and healers. Once again; Jean Auel combines her brilliant narrative skills and appealing characters with a remarkable re-creation of the way life was lived thousands of years ago; rendering the terrain; dwelling places; longings; beliefs; creativity and daily lives of Ice Age Europeans as real to the reader as today's news.
