The Last Matriarch

By Sharman Apt Russell

Book Overview

"In the tradition of Jean Auel, this well-researched novel authentically recreates the world of the Clovis people." -Publishers Weekly

These children had never seen a tapir. They had never seen a mammoth.

So reflects Willow, clan elder of the Clovis tribe, hunters and gatherers who lived on the grassy plains of the great Southwest more than eleven thousand years ago. Looking back on her life, Willow tells the story of when the land was abundant with bison, camels, mammoths, and lions. When communication with animals, plants, and even stones was possible, even essential, for survival.

Inventively linking Willow's chronicle with that of the woolly mammoth matriarchs, award-winning author Sharman Apt Russell explores the impact of human interaction with the environment, shedding light on the archaeological mystery surrounding the mass extinction at the end of the Pleistocene.

Recreating the lives of a prehistoric people while highlighting our deep connection to the past and the world around us, The Last Matriarch is a book for our times.

"Books like this one can teach us not only the facts of the Paleolithic past, but also allow us to share the experiences of our ancestors. The Last Matriarch does both and does them beautifully." -Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Social Life of Dogs and Reindeer Moon

"With a fluidly poetic style and vivid characterizations, Russell brings the ancient Southwest alive." -Booklist

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1504079345
• ISBN13: 9781504079341
• Release Date: December 2022
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A beautiful, contemporary novel set in pre-historic times

Sharman Russell has returned to what she does best: write about the human condition in beautiful, poetic prose with humor, generosity, and a candor that makes you feel she was put on earth to express your thoughts for you. I wondered how she knew all my secrets as I read the story of an independent, though not stereotypical, woman in a tribe 12,000 years ago. She reveals a woman's perspective on her role in the group, her husbands, her children, her in-laws. Never saccharine-sweet, never a political diatribe; just clean, pure prose about a woman and her prehistoric neighborhood. I recommend this book especially to mothers, but I think men will appreciate it, too, for the light it sheds on "what women want". Whether you care about what happened to large land mammals or not, you will remember this book for its poetry and humanity.