In a frozen 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 America'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.

Reviews

"REMARKABLE...Harrison has managed to create a rich inner life for Chagak, even while she has her hands full creating a distant time and place ... A COMPANIONABLE AND FREQUENTLY MOVING STORY"

Kirkus Reviews

"AN ENTHRALLING TALE OF FAMILY ROOTS AND ENDURANCE...Harrison's deft touch and impeccable re-creation of the prehistoric Ice Age fined me with wonder."

Alex Haley, author of Roots

"A LOVE STORY THAT TRANSENDS TIME   -A page-tuning humdinger . ... Harrison has reconstructed the rhythms, artifacts, and myths of this distant age... WONDERFUL... If you pick her book up, you won't put it down."

Toledo Blade

"CAPTIVATING...Chagak is an engaging heroine, and there's a real sweetness-as well as the prerequisite suspense-to her story."

San Francisco Chronicle

"HARRISON OUTDOES JEAN AUEL......Her writing is cleaner and more elegant, her story line more credible . . . Fascinating"

Milwaukee Journal

"INVOLVING, READABLE AND EVERY BIT AS MUCH FUN AS ANY OF AUEL'S NOVELS...An engaging first novel sure to be welcomed by Jean Auel fans and many others."

Grand Rapids Press

"BEFORE 15 PAGES HAD GONE BY I WAS HOOKED,  caught up in the quiet power of the story..... There are characters here you can care about."

San Diego Tribune

"A GRIPPING, ENGAGING STORY...Spellbinding. With intricate use of the language, Harrison carries the reader through the time tunnel with touching, emotional realism."

Oakland Press

"DRAMATIC AND WELL-RESEARCHED...Harrison's creation of Chagak's world, its mood, texture and climate, allows the reader to share the magic of ancient tales told amid the flickering of sea-oil lamps . . . A story ably told by characters so well-drawn that we huddle with them on their lonely beaches, listening to the roar of the sea and fearing the power of the earth and sky.".

Portland Oregonian

"MEMORABLY GREAT…In between the satisfying details of an ancient culture, you smell the sweet heather, taste the wind, hear the roaring surf, and sense the joy of primeval love."

Ruth Beebe Hill, author of Hanta Yo

"BEWITCHING...She skillfully handles the vast differences between the roles of men and women in an ancient cultureShe provides excellent background on her characters and the art of survival In a hostile environment."

Arkansas Gazette

"SUE HARRISON JOINS THE RANKS OF JEAN AUEL AND LINDA LAY SHULER...Worth reading? You can bet your best fur wrap on it."

Houston Post

"AN ASTONISHNGAND CAPTIVATING TALE…A story full of familiar, stirring emotion and featuring a heroine with whom it is impossible not to identify. . . So adroitly is this strange and distant time brought to life, you forget how 'other' Chagak and her adventures are and find yourself praying for her endurance and rejoicing when her exile ends."

Cosmopolitan

"A MOVING AND CREDIBLE STORY...Harrison expertly frames dramatic events with depictions of prehistoric life in the Aleutian Islands."

The New York Times Book Review

"RICHLY TEXTURED, COMPELLING...The strong narrative pull keeps a reader busy turning pages . . . Harrison is a considerably more elegant writer than Jean M. Auel. . . A memorable illusion of a complex, alien culture nine thousand summers ago."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A NATIVE AMERICAN ROOTS...An elegant, poetic journey into the past"

Self Magazine