Jean M. Auel (born February 18, 1936) is an internationally renowned American historical fiction novelist whose groundbreaking prehistoric sagas have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. Born Jean Marie Untinen in Chicago to Finnish immigrant parents, she raised five children before embarking on a bold career reinvention in her early forties. She vaulted into immediate global literary superstardom with her 1980 debut masterpiece, [The Clan of the Cave Bear], which introduced the iconic Cro-Magnon heroine Ayla. Adopted by a Neanderthal clan during the last Ice Age, Ayla's journey spawned the blockbuster six-novel [Earth’s Children] series, which includes The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, and The Shelters of Stone. Highly respected by archaeologists and anthropologists alike, Auel is celebrated for her obsessive, hands-on field research. She personally toured ice-age European cavern networks, worked on active excavation digs, and enrolled in aboriginal lifeskills courses to master primitive technologies like flint knapping and hide tanning. Her epic prehistoric universe reached its triumphant global conclusion in 2011 with the publication of the final installment, [The Land of Painted Caves]. In recognition of her masterful impact on literature, she has received four honorary doctorates and was named an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.
This profile is awaiting source review; collected books are already linked below.
