The Neanderthals

The story is set in south-western France about 41,000 years ago, and the seasons are just starting to cool. A clan of Neanderthals is living peacefully, unaware that life is about to change dramatically for its Clan members. A scouting party of modern man has left Morocco and travelled through Spain, to reach the Neanderthals' area for the first time. This is a momentous new experience for the Clan members, who call these new people 'Outsiders'. The Outsiders arrive with a strange religion, and this serves to further complicate this encounter. The story is told by one of the Clan females, Ula, who describes what happens to the Clan in the year that follows this encounter, whilst the Outsiders are living in their area. There is a great fight, but some of the Clan members manage to survive. You will be touched by their courage and tenacity, as they rebuild their lives. Definitely expect the unexpected in this story, as the book aims to humanise the Neanderthals and cast aside old clichés and past stigmatisations of them. Readers are invited to consider the uniqueness of the Neanderthals, and they are presented as a loving, intelligent and courageous group of people. The author believes that the Neanderthals deserve our greatest respect, as they managed to survive living in small, isolated clans, sometimes in very harsh climates, for over 200,000 years.