In particular, the life-and-death emphasis on civility in a subsistence economy allows for a convincing adaptation of Austen’s novel of manners. Debut author Eshbaugh portrays Neolithic culture with grace and authenticity, although the easy acceptance of same-sex relationships and absence of gender roles is anthropologically improbable. When Lo, the charming daughter of yet another clan, showers Kol with flattering attention, he dismisses hints of her bitter past with Mya’s people…until dark secrets erupt into shattering treachery. Though he admires the clever and capable Mya, she dismisses him with disdainful contempt the immediate attraction between his brother and Mya’s sister is later repudiated even more rudely. Kol, oldest son of a hunter-gatherer clan, is worrisomely lacking prospective wives, so he rejoices along with his parents and brothers at a visit from a family rich in unmarried girls. A gender-flipped revisiting of Pride and Prejudice translates surprisingly well into the Ice Age-until it doesn’t.
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