Daughter of the Red Deer

Reindeer Hunters #1

by Joan Wolf

A group of young men from the tribe of the Horse defy their elders and kidnap women from a neighboring matriarchal tribe, in a novel set on the grassy plains of Southern Europe during the Ice Age

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical, Fiction, Prehistory, Historical Romance, Prehistoric

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Joan Wolf is a USA TODAY bestselling American writer, whose acclaimed Regency romances have earned her national recognition as a master of the genre. Her many historical and contemporary romances, some of which have been chosen as Literary Guild selections, have been highly praised by reviewers and authors alike.

Joan was born in 1951 and she grew up in the Bronx, New York. A former English teacher, she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Mercy College and Master in English and Comparative Literature at Hunter College. An avid rider and horse owner, Joan lives in Connecticut with her husband Joe and two grown children, Jay and Pam.

Reviews

[Rebecca]

If you read this book as a romance rather than as a historical, I think it is a great read. This series has more romance than some of the others in this genre (The Clan of the Cave Bear series, for example), but I didn't find that it had as much historical accuracy as some of the others. It was a pleasant read and likely one I will enjoy again in a few years, but this is not a series I would recommend for those who like to see what life was really like for people in prehistoric times. There were some realistic aspects, like how a mass tragedy could cause a tribe to resort to drastic means for survival, but the book as a whole was much too "safe" for life at that time (there is little mention of the hardships of the era like the climate, having enough food, fairly high death rate - especially in the very young and very old, etc.).

Read this as a fictional book with a nice romantic tale, and you will most likely enjoy it. For me, with my background in Earth & Life Sciences, my brain was screaming at all the inaccuracies until I finally just decided to read it like I would read a Fantasy Romance. Then I was able to just sit back and enjoy the tale...

[Vanessa Murakami]

OK, I tried really hard with this novel but, wow, talk about a ripoff of Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series! Can't even understand how this got published and not sued for blatant copy!?! Never again!

[Alisa]

Clan of the Cave Bear lite. This novel is enjoyable and not quite as "sexy" as the Clan books, although there's still a lot of sexual tension in the plot. One thing I particularly liked about the novel was the exploration of gender roles and the need to recognize and celebrate both the god and goddess aspects of our lives.

[LectoraEstherica]

Ha estado bien, aunque no me podía creer que realmente fueran "hombres y mujeres de las cavernas", debido a que es una historia de amor. Pero ha estado entretenida, se lee rápido, se cazan mamust, se hacen botas, ligan entre ellos, xD. Lo normal, vamos.

[Gold994aol.com]

Awesome

This is one of my favorite books that I love to re-read. It is such a page turner. It is a truly a must read book.

[Peggy M]

I bought this book many, many years ago. I have the Dutch version of it and during the years I have reread this story many times. It’s an easy and light read. I just love it.

[Mary Heron]

An interesting read.

Obviously comparisons will.he made with the Clan of the Cave Bear series but apart from one of two small references the books are quite.difference. This is obviously a romance novel set around the ice age whereas C.o.t.C.B. Is an historical treatise as much (if not more) about the time period as it is about the characters. The characters in this are very simple people who live harsh lives, very in fear of offending the Gods. The two main characters come from different tribes one which worships the Sky God (giving men the dominant role) and the other the Earth Mother (where women rule) so when our hero and.heroine meet there is a lot of compromising to be done, by both, along their way they will run across evil people who wish to separate them ....................

[Gaile]

As soon as I held this book in my heads, I remembered the plot.
I had greatly enjoyed this book when I first read it back in the
nineties.
After having lost their young women, the young men of the tribe of
The Horse steal young women from the tribe of the Red Deer. Alin, daughter
of the Red Deer priestess tries to prevent the women from liking
their kidnappers. Reaching home, the young men of the Horse find themselves
in conflict with the older men who apparently want first dibs on the young
women.
Mar has fallen in love with Alin while the chieftain Atlan wants her for himself.
One tribe worships one God, the other tribe another. The Red Deer is a matriarchal
tribe and Alin takes exception to being thought of as property Taking place in the time
before the rise of Egypt, this novel is of inner tribal conflict as well as tribal
conflict. Human emotion and passion is well depicted in this novel.
My re-read gave me as much pleasure as the first time I read it!

[Taryn]

If you want to read prehistory, read Jean M Auel. This book seems like Joan Wolf read the Earth's Children series and tried to use them as the entire basis for her book. The people in the Daughter of the Red Deer are not believable, they would fit better in today's society than in prehistory. I know we as readers are supposed to know things like they don't speak English, but it seems like Joan wrote a story of people today with some wierd traditions and just made the setting prehistory. If you are considering reading prehistory read Jean M Auel's Earth's Children series!!!!

[Lynn Hall]

Unfortunately l found this book was just another Clan Of The Cave Bear clone.And just when you were starting to get into the era,the author would drop a clanger using modern language that threw me right off."she used marjoram,thyme and bay leaves in her stew"Really?Called them that did they?And we are told there are even "ladies of the night"-ahem-"cave".....!aw,come on!Maybe l should have been 15 when l read this.

[Bookwormdragon]

I first read this book when I was around 12 or so, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Wolf has a wonderful way of making the past come alive, with interesting characters and customs. While it may not be absolutely accurate (what pre-history is?), it is enthralling and realistic in many ways. The romance is a central part of the story, but doesn't overshadow the other plot elements either. Wolf's heroine is a strong woman who doesn't turn into a weak-willed idiot just because she's fallen in love, which is certainly refreshing.

[IdahoGirl4ever]

Though this book is not a religious book there is mention of Sky God and Earth Mother and the differences in the Horse Tribe and the Red Deer Tribe based on their beliefs and worship of each god. The author does a great job of portraying the cultural differences based on the way(s) the characters were raised not only in their culture, but in their beliefs as well. This book was a good reminder that regardless of what position we hold in society or in our families and what belief system we are are expected to follow we will each one day have to choose our own path.

[Jennifer]

Read this years ago and really enjoyed it. In fact, I've read it a few times. Might be due for another time. It does have the typical fiery, independent young woman who is inextricably drawn to the lusty, muscular man, but the story has an interesting twist in the prehistoric setting and the dueling religions and sexes. Take Men are From Mars and Women are from Venus to the extreme. If you enjoy romances and/or prehistoric novels, this is a good one.

[Bea Carroll]

What a book- And historically the store is fantastic- fit right in with that period of time. But truly any work by Joan Wolf shouldn't surprise anyone. The story of Mar & Alin is well told & I enjoyed the book like I did any of her work - of which I read most. She has been compared with Jean Auel of Clan of The Cave Man fame but while I enjoyed Auel's books I find Joan Wolf has a more romantic style when dealing with Mar & Alin story. More books of this kind need from Joan Wolf.

[Laura]

I LOVE this book! Wolf paints a beautiful and exciting picture of prehistoric times, while at the same time developing characters and not making the book too "romancy," which is really nice. There is love, yet it is by no means your typical "bodice-ripper." I highly recommend it!

[LL]

If you are a fan of the Clan of the Cave Bear series, you will love reading Joan Wolf's Daughter of the Red Deer! Full of adventure, ancient cultures, and the challenge of traditional ideas, this book is a gripping journey. Worth the read!

[Lori]

Why is this not as popular as Clan of the Cave Bear? I thought it was as good.

[Madz]

A great light read, and good alternative if you’re jaded by Clan of the Cavebear’s rape apologist narrative. An upside for me is that this story focuses much more on the romance and tender care(even though it is literally Stockholm syndrome…) than on the sPiCy sex scenes like Jean M.Auel’s books do. This book is mostly vague, implied sex, or fade to black, and for that, I was happy!!

It is unfortunately(in my opinion) much lighter on the interesting aspects of prehistoric life, like survival and detailed daily life tangents that I loved in Clan of The Cavebear, but if you hated those long winded descriptions, then you will probably like this book more. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of five page long descriptions of cooking a single meal :(

Basically, if you like prehistoric life in brutally longwinded detail, plus graphic sex, go for Jean M. Auel, but trigger warning for rape and rape excusing for a lot of the books.
If you like more simplistic prehistoric life, somewhat interesting plot, romance and no rape, go for this book.

[Linda]

It kind of reminded me of reading a coming of age girls diary; And also reminded me of real life camping and hiking experiences; And perhaps a retelling of a kidnapping experience. It did not convince me that it was during a prehistoric time period. Although it did remind me of historical and modern writings of kidnappings and the growing relationships between kidnappers and their young victims. It was still an interesting read. I know the author was writing as a "translation" into present day language but I couldn't get around the fact that Jes said about the baby "He is a small {picture} of Mar" I stopped thinking about it as being prehistoric and decided to just read it as a fictional story. Then it was delightful even through the inaccuracies. I would like to read other stories by Joan Wolf.

[Sheilah]

A Little of this and that makes for an Interesting Story

This is a prehistoric novel that brings to life a story of life, love, murder and mayhem. It focuses on the lives of two groups, one of which is led by women and the other by men. I enjoyed the story, but the character development was primarily of interest. It’s a good read for when one has time to think on what life was like during this time.

[Millicent05 O.]

Encantada quede, primer libro de Joan Wolf qué leo, y me ha dado una grata sorpresa, tiene elementos que pueden llegar a conectar conmigo muy fácilmente, como una buena ambientación (historica-ficción) personajes con diversidad de matices y protagonistas qué te envuelven en su mundo, sin duda ha sido una buena lectura para empezar el 2026.

[Wild Ones Homestead]

The overall storyline was interesting, but a lot of this felt like a draft of a book and not the final product.

[Kathy Hale]

Alin and some of her tribe are abducted by the Tribe of the Horse in pre-historic France. Fans of Clan of the Cave Bear should like this book.

[Meaghan]

I just know they were mad musty

[Sharon Lipsett]

Great lovestory

Well told and delightful with believable and endearing characters. It leaves you wanting more! I can't wait to see what happens with Skin and Mar from here!

[Nicole Neufeld]

unique story and well written

[Shivani Singh]

No clue where the author wanted to go with this one. I think she had no clue either.

Abandoned it.

[Nanette]

She's a great writer and it was a lovely story with all the components that make a story great.

[Koe88]

Read and re-read several times as a teenager.
Loved it. I will have to pick it up again and read the whole saga, I didn't knoe there were more to it.

[Tigress]

There were actually some fascinating things in this book, even if it was a little boring and dry at times--the clash of cultures between the matriarchal Tribe of the Red Deer and the patriarchal Tribe of the Horse, the goddess religion, the cave painting, the prehistoric animals, etc. (I'm always a sucker for anything prehistoric, since I grew up with lots of documentaries like Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts. But, alas. Another book ruined by the male love interest.

Literally the only thing I like about Mar is that this is what he looks like in my head:



(Sidenote: I should start picturing all douchey romance heroes as Brad Pitt from now on. It makes things much more bearable.)

I was going to say that he's acting like a caveman, throwing the woman over his shoulder and taking her back to his cave... but he's literally a caveman throwing the woman over his shoulder and taking her back to his cave. But that is still no excuse!

Because, that's the plot: the Tribe of the Horse's women died from poisonous water, so they had to go kidnap women from another tribe so they wouldn't die out. Although, it turns out that they actually do have plenty of women left, so I don't really see why they had to go on a kidnapping spree.

I should've known better than to read this. The captive bride thing just really pisses me off. (See my review of The Hollow Kingdom.)

The guy is such a misogynistic bastard:

Alin: "So it is to be rape then."
Mar: "That is up to you. It doesn't have to be."

"Be a good girl and wash it for me."

"Good girl." And Alin was annoyed to find that his praise pleased her.

Alin, honey, that's not praise. That's condescension. I mean, I guess I'm kind of biased, because a guy saying "good girl" at me just really pisses me off, but still.

Anyway, I enjoyed the prehistory stuff (historical accuracy, or lack thereof, aside) and the cultural/religious conflict, but the romance just killed the book for me. That, and that it was very boring. I didn't actually finish the book, so I don't know if the women ever succeeded in changing the men, or if the men ended up changing the women, but at this point, I don't really care. (And besides, we all know that the patriarchal "Sky God" religions ended up beating out the mother goddess religions in the end, unfortunately.)

Also, the way the sex scenes were written kept making me laugh:
"He felt his phallus stir and become erect at his thoughts."
"he felt his manhood rise hard and taut with life."
"he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as straight as his phallus."
"... his sap waking her womb with life for the tribe..."

How do they even know the word phallus? But, authors, never call it that... ever. Please.