Fans of Jean Auel’s "Earth’s Children" series have been waiting since 2002 for her sixth book, which describes the epic travels and adventures of Ayla and her adopted tribe, the Zelandonii, through pre-historic Europe. (This was supposed to be the final book in the series, but Auel told the Associated Press that she doesn't feel quite done...so the series may stretch into a seventh or even eighth book.)
Auel is known as a consummate researcher, and is well-respected among anthropologists and archeologists for her attention to fact. Auel includes incredibly (detractors might say overly) detailed descriptions of daily life in her stories, from spear-making and throwing to finding herbs and making tea. In The Land of Painted Caves, we follow Ayla, her mate Jondalar, and their young daughter Jonayla as they travel on a pilgrimage of sacred caves and Ayla continues her studies as an acolyte to the spiritual leader known as “The First Among Those Who Serve the Mother,” the spiritual leader of the tribes. During the course of her apprenticeship, Ayla accidentally drinks an herbal concoction that sends her on either a visionquest or a three-day psychedelic trip, depending upon your point of view. During this time, she has an epiphany and a “meeting” with a higher power, The Great Earth Mother, who shares with Ayla a “gift of knowledge” about the conception of life to share with her tribe. When Ayla shares the prophecy, she is met, like so many prophets, with disbelief, confusion and even anger. The tribe is threatened by a challenge to their beliefs, and the structure of their spiritual base. Auel’s followers will be happy to be reunited with Ayla, her family, tribe-mates and animals, as Auel's character, introduced over 30 years ago as the five-year-old orphan in The Clan of the Cave Bear, ascends to her rightful place as spiritual leader of her tribe.
Jean Auel read from and signs The Land of Painted Caves on Monday, April 4, 7-9 PM at St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh, 314-994-3300, slcl.org. Sponsored by Barnes & Noble.
