Dubi reviewed Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron
Review of 'Last Neanderthal' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Such a brutal book, and I mean it in the best way possible. Not for the faint of heart.
The story revolves around Girl, a neanderthal teen who's living through the dwindling of her species. Her family is down to the bare minimum size they would need to survive, and Girl is highly aware that she will have to find a mate and join another family to ensure that she can carry the line onward as a new Big Mother.
The story also follows Rose, a paleoarcheologist who has uncovered a remarkable find that will be sure to cause an upheaval in the way we think of Neanderthals as a species, and their relationship with modern humans. The stories, tens of thousands of years apart, are tragically entwined, and complement each other -- although, to be perfectly honest, I don't think my enjoyment of the book would have lessened if …
Such a brutal book, and I mean it in the best way possible. Not for the faint of heart.
The story revolves around Girl, a neanderthal teen who's living through the dwindling of her species. Her family is down to the bare minimum size they would need to survive, and Girl is highly aware that she will have to find a mate and join another family to ensure that she can carry the line onward as a new Big Mother.
The story also follows Rose, a paleoarcheologist who has uncovered a remarkable find that will be sure to cause an upheaval in the way we think of Neanderthals as a species, and their relationship with modern humans. The stories, tens of thousands of years apart, are tragically entwined, and complement each other -- although, to be perfectly honest, I don't think my enjoyment of the book would have lessened if Rose's story was completely eliminated. It's not that it detracted from the book, but I don't think it contributed quite as much as it could have.
Claire Cameron has a knack for telling nature stories, and helps even a city slicker like me feel what it's like out in the wild. If you're a vegan, be prepared for a lot of graphic hunting scenes and plenty of talk about craving meat. It's a remarkable achievement of imagination to create such a vivid picture of a life that we can only guess at what it was like; but as far as I can tell, Cameron strives not to stray too far away from what is plausible according to our current scientific knowledge. I appreciate that.
Do read this book, but be prepared to be bludgeoned by it.