''The Plains of Passage'' is an historical fiction novel by

Jean M. Auel Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Mag ...

published in 1990. It is the sequel to '' The Mammoth Hunters'' and fourth in the

Earth's Children ''Earth's Children'' is a series of epic historical fiction (or more precisely, prehistorical fiction) novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before the present day. There are six novels in the series. Although Auel had previous ...

series.

Plot

''The Plains of Passage'' describes the journey of Ayla and Jondalar west along the Great Mother River (the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

), from the home of The

Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks an ...

Hunters (roughly modern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) to Jondalar's homeland (close to

Les Eyzies Les Eyzies (; oc, Las Aisiás) is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It was established on 1 January 2019 by merger of the former communes of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil (the seat), Manaurie and ...

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

, France). During this journey, Ayla meets the various peoples who live along their line of march. These meetings, the attitudes and beliefs of these groups, and Ayla's response form an essential part of the story. Characters range in description from innocent to bloodthirsty, from serious to comical, from noble to corrupt, from found to lost, and from

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

ful to violent. All of these adjectives apply in some way to either Jondalar or Ayla. Ayla (and to some extent Jondalar) is often viewed by her new friends as mystic or supernatural, partially due to her friendships with the world's first known domesticated

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s and

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

, but also due to her generous

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

and

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowle ...

. As they encounter people Jondalar and his brother met on their journey eastward they have a hard time leaving them, especially after an offer to become joined with a high-ranking Sharamudoi couple. Jondalar declines the offer, giving as excuse his desire to have the lead mystic of his people search for and help his deceased brother cross over to the other side. It concludes with Ayla and Jondalar's successful return to the Zelandoni, and Ayla's stated pregnancy, and Whinney's definite pregnancy. ''The Plains of Passage'' is one of the longer books in the

series. It was followed by '' The Shelters of Stone.''

Critical response

Entertainment Weekly gave the novel a B+ upon its release in 1990, saying it has a "low-intensity fascination imilar toan actual hike through the wilderness".The Plains of Passage
/ref> Entertainment Weekly also claims "Auel's main strength is melodrama that has been enlisted in the service of a serious, ''improving'' message that a lot of people want to receive. In Auel's case the didactic component is a postfeminist allegory that validates Woman's new place in society, with one foot in the (hunting/ gathering) workplace and the other still solidly planted on the domestic hearth". Auel is often praised for her knowledge on the Paleolithic, and this chapter in the Earth's Children series is no exception.

Public Response

"The Plains of Passage" spent weeks on the New York Times best sellers list from 1990–1991.
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/books/best-sellers-may-5-1991.html ''BEST SELLERS: May 5, 1991''] The novel currently holds a 3.7/5 on Goodreads and a 4.5/5 on the Barnes and Noble website. Many readers found this book to have tedious details and meticulous information, but was enjoyable overall.

References

External links

* * http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,318279,00.html * https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/03/books/best-sellers-february-3-1991.html * https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/books/best-sellers-may-5-1991.html * http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plains-of-passage-jean-m-auel/1100290177?ean=9780553289411 * http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74389.The_Plains_of_Passage {{DEFAULTSORT:Plains of Passage, The Earth's Children 1990 American novels