Mother Earth Father Sky

In a time before history, in a harsh and beautiful land near the top of the world, womanhood comes cruelly and suddenly to beautiful, young Chagak. Surviving the brutal massacre of her tribe, she sets out across the icy waters off Ameria's northwest coast on an astonishing odyssey that will reveal to Chagak powerful secrets of the earth and sky... and the mysteries of love and loss.From Publishers WeeklyChagak, a primitive Amerindian woman, survives the massacre of her tribe and family and later challenges gender roles by learning to be both child-bearer and hunter. According to PW , the "childlike language, slow-paced plot and unsophisticated characterizations" here are no threat to Jean Auel's novels of the prehistoric wilderness. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalHarrison has gone back 9000 years in time to tell the story of Chagak, a young woman who struggles to survive when her family and village are slaughtered by the warlike Short Ones. Her only ally is a crippled recluse who offers her shelter on his island. But what can either of them do when Chagak is demanded in marriage by one of the men who killed her family? Likely to be compared to Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" books, Harrison's novel is constructed on a much smaller scale, but her depiction of early American civilizations is nevertheless convincing. Chagak is a believable and appealing heroine; readers will care what happens to her. Given the popularity of fiction set in prehistoric times, this should be in demand in public libraries. Literary Guild main selection; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/90.- Beth Ann Mills, New Rochelle P.L., N. Y.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.