The Valley of Horses

I love the main character, the strongest woman in literature, who, in late Paleolithic times, literally invents the modern world. She is strong but thinks herself weak. She is beautiful but thinks herself ugly. She circumvents and overcomes every instance of adversity thrown her way. I want to be her, and the book permits me to wear her shoes.

I have been highly influenced by Jean Auel’s storytelling, especially the graphic scenes of Ayla’s loss of innocence, growth into sexuality, and descriptions of lust, love, and completion.

This book is not erotica, yet the love scenes are the best I’ve… show more.

This is Book Two of her Earth’s Children series, and my favorite of this sweeping saga of the human experience. As a lover of history, archaeology, and sociology, as well as an animal lover and horse fanatic, I was immersed in the survival and existence of our resourceful, compassionate ancestors, making tools and clothing, finding food, building shelters, and domesticating animals. Not to mention the, ummmm, cave erotica. Jean Auel paints a vivid canvas of how the world appeared, gives us a taste of the cuisine and the vastness of the steppes and plains of prehistory. Spellbinding and engaging, I… show more.