The Animal Wife

A companion novel to Reindeer Moon, telling about the same group of prehistoric people, also a coming-of-age story, but about a young man this time. Kori, the main character, sets off on a journey to live with his father's people after having spent his childhood with his mother. He is eager to prove himself a man, and earn his place. He is just beginning to find his place among the grown men when he makes a brash move and takes captive a woman from an unknown tribe. His rash action condemns his new "wife" to live among total strangers- but also makes Kori something of an outcast himself, and places his own family group in danger... It wasn't nearly as magical as Reindeer Moon, and at the end of the book I was left thinking: what a show more desolate story.


from the DogEar Diary show less

I liked "Reindeer Moon" much better, but this one was also unputdownable. Certainly better than "Clan of the Cave Bear". If you are looking for prehistoric romance, this is probably not the place you'll find it.

An imagining of life in prehistoric times, where a young man leaves his mother's people to live with his father's clan, and kidnaps a woman from another tribe with very different customs.