This unforgettable odyssey into the distant past carries us back to the awesome mysteries
of the exotic, primeval world of The Clan of the Cave Bear, and to Ayla, now grown
into a beautiful and courageous young woman.

Cruelly cast out by the new leader
of the ancient Clan that adopted her as a child, Ayla leaves those she loves behind
and travels alone through a stark, open land filled with dangerous animals but few
people, searching for the Others, tall and fair like herself. The short summer gives
her little time to look, and when she finds a sheltered valley with a herd of hardy
steppe horses, she decides to stay and prepare for the long glacial winter ahead.

Living with the Clan has taught Ayla many skills but not real hunting. She finally
knows she can survive when she traps a horse, which gives her meat and a warm pelt
for the winter, but fate has bestowed a greater gift, an orphaned foal with whom
she develops a unique kinship. One winter extends to more; she discovers a way to
make fire more quickly and a wounded cave lion cub joins her unusual family, but
her beloved animals don’t fulfill her restless need for human companionship. Then
she hears the sound of a man screaming in pain. She saves tall, handsome Jondalar,
who brings her a language to speak and an awakening of love and desire, but Ayla
is torn between her fear of leaving her valley and her hope of living with her own
kind.