The Valley of Horses
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| Author | Jean M. Auel |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Earth's Children |
| Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Crown |
| Released | April 13, 1982 |
| Preceded by | The Clan of the Cave Bear |
| Followed by | The Mammoth Hunters |
The Valley of Horses is an historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. It is the sequel to The Clan of the Cave Bear and second in the Earth's Children series.
The book starts off from the events at end of The Clan of the Cave Bear. The protagonist, a young girl named Ayla (clearly Homo sapiens, aka Cro-Magnon) must face life after being exiled from the band of Neanderthals, known as the Clan, who had raised her from early childhood. The book follows the journey Ayla makes to find her own people.
After some searching she finds the book's titular valley, and eventually establishes a comfortable but lonely life there. In her desire for companionship and her unsentimental compassion for other living creatures, she domesticates the foal of a horse she hunted. She names the filly Whinney and, in time, discovers how to ride her. Emboldened by this success, she takes in and treats an injured cave lion cub, which she names Baby. During mating season, both of these depart, Baby to find his lioness and Whinney to find a stallion, with whom she conceives a foal. The Valley of Horses also follows the journey of two new characters, half-siblings Jondalar and Thonolan of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, as they travel eastward from their home, down the Great Mother River. The years and travels of both characters are described in alternating chapters until they meet during one of the climaxes in the story, in which Thonolan is killed and Jondalar injured by Ayla's lion and his mate. Ayla rescues and heals Jondalar, the first man of the Others she has ever known. Whinney gives birth to a foal, and Jondalar is allowed to name him, in an attempt by Ayla to induce Jondalar to stay with her.
The story then follows the relationship between Ayla and Jondalar as they slowly learn about each other and fall in love. The story ends with Ayla and Jondalar meeting a group known as The Mammoth Hunters, which is the title of the next book in the Earth's Children series.
Author Jean Auel binds the story to our known history, thereby making it more "believable," by attributing to Ayla and Jondalar such inventions as horseback riding, the first domesticated feline, the use of iron pyrite for lighting fires, and the spearthrower. The character of Jondalar falls readily to the like, because he has been all along made out as a toolmaker. He is later declared (to Ayla's surprise) as the Master Flint Knapper and kin to the chieftains of his tribe. Ayla, for her part, is shown to have a comprehensive imagination, a phenomenal memory, comprehensive training in the fields of hunting and medicine, and a thick Neanderthal accent.
One of the major conflicts in Ayla's story is her upbringing; because she was raised by Neanderthals (the Clan), the Cro-Magnons view her as unclean and contaminated—more so when she reveals that she was raped and got with child by the Clan chieftain's son. Some of the other women have a similar or even the opposite problem. More than a few Cro-Magnons view the (to them) odd-looking Neandertalers as something demonic or subhuman. To this is presumably attributed the perception of humans by themselves of themselves as superanimal.
