Jean M Auel

Ayla and Jondalar set out on horseback across the windswept grasslands of Ice Age Europe. To the hunter-gathers of their world Ayla and Jondalar appear enigmatic and frightening. In the course of their cross-continental odyssey, they encounter both savage enemies and brave friends. Together they learn that the vast and unknown world can be difficult and treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful and enlightening as well. All the pain and pleasure bring...

Ayla sets out on her own odyssey of discovery away from the nurturing adoptive family and friends of the Clan. She is in search of others like herself and in search of love. Driven by her intelligence, her curiosity, and her destiny, she explores where the Clan never dared to travel and encounters a hostile world of awesome mystery, glacial cold, terrifying beasts, and intense loneliness in which survival itself is a constant battle.

In this third novel in the acclaimed Earth's Children series, Ayla, the independent heroine of "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and "The Valley of Horses, " sets out from the valley on Whinney, the horse she tamed. With her is Jondalar, the tall, handsome, yellow-haired man she nursed back to health and came to love.