DAUGHTER OF KURA

A half-million years ago in southeast Africa, Snap, granddaughter of the head-woman, is in line to become Mother of the matriarchal Kura, a Homo erectus clan.

One fall, a newcomer to the tribe, Bapoto, brings some extraordinary new ideas to the Kura: the soul, life after death, and a powerful spirit he calls the Great One. When Snap falls ill, Bapoto leads a ritual invoking the power of the Great One and apparently causes her recovery. As his ideas take hold among the Kura, he mates with Snap’s mother, helps defend the Kura from attack by strangers, and eventually seems poised to become the clan’s first male leader.

Snap sees his ideas and increasing power as threats to their traditions and is labeled an unbeliever. As she clashes with her mother and her clan, she begins to suspect that Bapoto is not what he seems.