The Téuta's Child

This was wonderful! Thank you so much for the ARC.
I loved this tale of an ancient village and an amazing blind child finding a way to survive. I loved every single character. I didn't want to put it down.
I found this to be a wonderful reminder that we are not any different from our ancestors even the ones from 8000 (or more) years ago.
We might have technology and medicine but we still fail to understand children with disabilities. We still let corrupt people lead us. We still have close bonds with our families and friends.
And we still love babies.

Fantastic, wholesome tale of family and what bonds us together. I loved the thoughtful use of research masterfully woven into this novel of the art of Neolithic paleontology and Detective-like sleuthing the author used to convey a story we should all easily find relation to. The set time of the novel was absolutely fascinating amd so rarely portrayed in todays literature.- it gave the comforting, ancestral feeling as if reaching for Clan of the Cave Bears again for the first time.

** Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Whisperer for an advanced copy of The Tétua's Child in exchange for an honest review. **

Though S.G. Ullman himself writes that he is not an archeologist, it is clear that he did considerable research to write this book. The Tétua's Child opens with an acknowledgment that the main character, Kaikos, was inspired by ~5,700 year old Neolithic remains found in modern-day Denmark. The story then follows Kaikos' imagined life in neolithic times. As a former museum employee, the book reminded me a lot of conversations I had with colleagues about what they referred to as forensic anthropology or forensic paleontology, where scientists use clues left in the remains of humans or non-human animals/plants, respectively, to piece together ancient life and the incidents that led to the animal (human or otherwise) to it's death. This story reminded me a lot of that, where Ullman is piecing together neolithic life (with a few artisitic liberties) using facts that we do know and are verifiable based on the archeological record. Would recommend The Tétua's Child to anyone with an interest in stories about family, with an interest in anthropology or ancient history, and who are ready for an immersive adventure into human history.

this was a beautifully done story about loss and redemption, it was what I was hoping for based on the description. The characters were what I was hoping for and really enjoyed getting to know them. It worked really well for the time and the story was so well done.

"Raghe, Raghe, tell me what I need to do! Prsedi, tell me what I need to do to protect my Téuta from the curses of gods or giants! Give me something to fight against, or tell me how to fight against something I can't touch and can't see!"

Wow what an amazing book. I loved the characters, plot, and was impressed by Ullman’s knowledge of the times.

The Teuta’s Child is a fictional story that takes place approximately 8200 years ago. It told of the environmental disasters that were causing death and destruction among one group living at that time. There were numerous earthquakes, flooding, and cliffs falling, causing loss of food and life.

Kaikos was a 12 year old child born blind. She was the descendent of Welo who the community felt was a giant causing all these disasters. Because of this, they believed both Kaikos and her mother Chaisa were cursed and should be done away with so the disasters would stop. They go into hiding but the tribe comes looking for them. Kaikos flees, wondering into the mountains to find Welo. Chaisa turns herself into Raghe, a Shaman, who spoke to the gods and was to offer her up to appease their anger. He believed was causing everything.

The book follows Kaikos’ search and finding of Welo, who is her great great grandfather. They flee together into the caves and mountains. They are chased by the ones Raghe sends to kill them. They live together as family for years until the tribe splits up and Chaisa and several of the other members come to find them. Welo is old, dies, and Kaikos is left alone until the others come. They all set upma new civilization.

8200 years ago what was happening in the world was not so different than what goes on today. Climate changes, countries break up and fight each other and families stick together and protect each other. The book is the author’s vision of what might have happened back then. It is not a true accurate account.

I could not put the book down. The characters and what they went through was fascinating. I highly recommend it. Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this pre-release in exchange for my honest review.

Ullman is a fine storyteller. His characters are well drawn, and the writing is sufficiently interesting to sweep the reader into his tale and to feel submerged in his historical time frame. Kaikos and Chaisa
are remarkable characters, and I felt absolutely back in time (6000s BCE) without jarring modernisms thrown in. I like archeology and read about it, so I appreciated Ullman’s extensive explanation at the end as to how he decided to create this world. Most historical fiction conflates times and artifacts to make the tale more interesting to readers, and he does as well. Also, with a setting such as this, where we “know“ very little about the culture and physical environment, some things must be borrowed from a later era that we know a bit more about. I loved how he came up with the names for the characters, and think overall this is a very good read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the book Whisperer for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Teuta's Child is historical fiction, set in the neolithic era. Kaikos was born blind and ostracized from the Tueta village for that reason, and for being the descendant of Welo, a supposed giant who destroyed the old village. However, her life is a fairly happy one, until she is blamed for causing a devastating earthquake and cursing the village. Can Kaikos overcome everything transpiring against her and find her place in this world?
I absolutely loved this novel. I've never read anything set during this time period, so that already had me interested. Kaikos is such a sweet protagonist- you can't help but root for her. The characters were well written and the spiritual sense that Kaikos has was such an innovative idea, and intriguing to read. Definitely recommend this one.