She Who Remembers

An easy-read addition to the prehistoric-superwoman genre of which Jean Auel is the reigning queen - this bout set in 13th century A.D. New Mexico, among the Anasazi people, ancestors of present-day Pueblos. At 16, Kwani is driven from her clan, accused of witchcraft because her eyes are blue. Equipped with some rudimentary religious paraphernalia, she heads southeast, where "blue-eyed gods" are rumored to live. She meets up with Kokopelli, a charismatic Toltec trader who plays the flute and has created a cult around the "sacred seed" he spreads among the women of the peoples he visits. While staying with a canyon-dwelling Anasazi tribe, Kokopelli publicly proclaims Kwani his mate, then goes off for the winter, leaving her to fend for herself. And fend she does, charming She Who Remembers, the spiritual leader who dispenses centuries' worth of female wisdom, so thoroughly that the dying old woman names Kwani her successor. But despite good intentions, Kwani stirs up trouble, provoking jealousy among the women and threatening the authority of the bossy medicine chief. Kokopelli returns just in time to save Kwani, who is being chased down by weapon-wielding hunters. With Kokopelli is a blue-eyed giant, Thorvald, whose gauche and unspiritual ways quickly cure Kwani of any desire to investigate that branch of her family tree. The three travel through a series of settlements, for what amounts to an anthropological field trip that serves as a backdrop for Kwani's growing tribal consciousness, and her new attachment to Tolonqua, a rising-star Towa warrior. Settings and tribal rituals are re-created more dutifully than vividly. And this one lacks the heady, goofy elan of Auel's Cave Bear series, in which the characters' discovies gleefully anticipate the modern world. Still, Kwani's adventures are swingy and compelling enough to keep things moving briskly. A potential crowd-pleaser, despite the cardboard scenery. (Kirkus Reviews)