entertainment weekly gave the novel a b+ upon its release in 1990, saying it has a "low-intensity fascination [similar to] an actual hike through the wilderness". entertainment weekly also claims "auel's main strength is melodrama that has been enlisted in the service of a serious, "improving" message that a lot of people want to receive. in auel's case the didactic component is a postfeminist allegory that validates woman's new place in society, with one foot in the (hunting/ gathering) workplace and the other still solidly planted on the domestic hearth". auel is often praised for her knowledge on the paleolithic, and this chapter in the earth's children series is no exception.