Daughter of the Red Deer - Hardcover

Wolf, Joan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525933794 ISBN 13: 9780525933793

Publisher: Dutton, 1991

Synopsis

A group of young men from the tribe of the Horse defy their elders and kidnap women from a neighboring matriarchal tribe, in a novel set on the grassy plains of Southern Europe during the Ice Age

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

This fourth novel by the author of The Road to Avalon, Born of the Sun, and The Edge of Light travels backward in time from Dark Ages Britain--which has been Wolf's customary haunt--to the prehistoric world of Cro-Magnon man. To make her move, Wolf has obviously studied up on her Jean Auel, mastered some of the mega- seller's lessons, and even bettered her in some vital areas. The protagonist here is a young woman named Alin, heir apparent to one of the last remaining matriarchal societies in the Pyrenees region of southern France (famed for its cave paintings, which are referred to throughout). She's about to participate in the Sacred Marriage, a fertility rite during which the women in the Tribe of the Red Deer choose mates. But just before the chanting starts, Alin and a number of other girls are kidnapped by a band of hunters from the Tribe of the Horse, led by the primordial hunk, Mar. Alin's amazed at the way things are ordered in Mar's patriarchal tribe (``What I am saying, Mar, is that neither should have the rule...a marriage should be like a hunting fellowship'') and manages to make some changes. Meanwhile, at the Spring Fires, Mar teaches her that no matter how capable women are, they still need men. Eventually, Alin's tribe comes to reclaim her, but she won't be able to live without Mar for long, and when she returns to him, it's to build a new, gender-balanced society. Post-feminist prehistory then, well researched and thought- out. Though it lacks the geologic scope and visual sense of an Auel, its characters and themes are sharper--making it an exceedingly strong contender on the prehistoric-fiction front. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

In a novel that will evoke comparisons with Jean Auel's Earth Children series, the author of a trilogy about the making of modern Britain (most recently, The Edge of Night ) now tries her hand at Ice Age Europe. Though it contains none of the elaborate and flowery prose that often mars Auel's work, the novel also lacks the detailed research that makes that novelist's work so convincing. Wolf's introduction of a three-word cave-person vocabulary--"sa" (yes); "na" (no); and "dhu" (where)--is a distracting affectation. The remainder of the language is explained in a curious afterword in which Wolf maintains that the book is a "fable" based on speculation. A tragedy that deprives a tribe of all of its female members forces the clan's young men to kidnap and assimilate the distaff members of another tribe. The ensuing saga, though often predictable, intertwines the fate of the marauders with that of the violated tribe. The former is patriarchal, the latter a matriarchy. In a tritely upbeat fashion, the story ends with the melding of the best of both cultures. Despite its drawbacks, for many readers this will be a satisfying and broadly accessible prehistoric drama. First serial to Good Housekeeping; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0525933794
• ISBN 13: 9780525933793
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 420