The triumphant finale in the Earth's Children series, Jean M. Auel's internationally bestselling reconstruction of pre-historic life, when two kinds of human beings, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, shared the earth.

Ayla, Jondalar, and their little daughter, Jonayla are home. Yet 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 M. 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.

Set 25,000 years in the past, yet utterly relatable today, The Land of Painted Caves is an epic tale of love, identity and the struggle to survive, rich in detail of language, culture, myth and ritual.

Praise for Jean M. Auel

'Beautiful, exciting, imaginative' New York Times

'A major bestseller . . . A remarkable work of imagination' Daily Express

The triumphant finale of the hugely successful Earth's Childrens(R) series

About the Author
Jean M. Auel is one of the world's most esteemed and beloved authors. Her extensive factual research has earned her the respect of renowned scientists, archaeologists and anthropologists around the globe, culminating in her being made an Officer of the Order of Arts & Letters by the French Minister of Culture and Communication in 2008.

Reviews
Jean Auel's amazing, ground-breaking series reaches a stunning conclusion. . . . . If you ever wondered what it was like for the first reasoning humans, this is the perfect way to learn. It's as though Auel has opened up a time portal, travelled with and lived with actual human beings as they begin their journey towards the people we are today. Moving and majestic, this story sweeps all before it and encompasses everything we know about our ancestors as they trek through central Europe and set up home in the caves there. All life is here in all its glory, the loves, the jealousy, the rivalry, the medicines . . . A compelling historical drama with every modern trait of the human being, but set in the days when the world was young. Magnificent, and a privilege to be able to read it. You must read this. * Books Monthly *
She deftly creates a whole world, giving a sense of the origins of class, ethnic and cultural differences that alternately divide and fascinate us today. Among modern epic spinners, Auel has few peers. * Kirkus Reviews *
Incredibly poignant and relevant to today * Sun 4 stars *
She does have a most extraordinary talent for recreating lost worlds * Kate Saunders, Books Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780340824276
Author Jean M. Auel
Format Paperback
Page Count 800
Imprint Hodder Paperback
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Weight(grams) 554g
Dimensions(mm) 201mm * 172mm * 39mm