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A review by kevin_shepherd
The Seven Daughters Of Eve by Bryan Sykes
4.0
Through mitochondrial genetics, Dr Bryan Sykes was able to retrace the migrations of Polynesian settlers, rewrite European prehistory, and even solve the mystery of Tsar Nicholas II. His most notable achievement, however, is his identification of seven individual women from prehistory who, when combined, birthed the ancestors of every single human being now living on planet earth. He christened them The Seven Daughters of Eve.
For the sake of simplicity, Dr. Sykes has given each of these Seven Daughters (also called “clan mothers”) modern names: Jasmine, Katrine, Tara, Velda, Helena, Xenia, and Ursula. Personally, I would have gone with a much different set of monikers—maybe Aretha, Carmen, Adele, Frida, Rosa, Zora, and Beyoncé—but I digress.
As an added bit of interest and interaction, those who know their maternal haplogroup (mine is U5a1b) can discover which clan mother they’re most directly descended from. I am team Ursula (aka Beyoncé).
Where Dr Sykes loses me comes about 200 pages in when he decides to give all the clan mothers elaborate, completely made-up back stories—what he calls “imagined lives.” For example, one accidentally invents the canoe and another domesticates a wolf. This, for me, is where The Seven Daughters of Eve shifts from intriguing science to oddly unnecessary historical fiction. It’s a literary experiment that falls flat.
But don’t let this deter you from reading this book. The fascinating first parts are well worth the discomforting and confusing last bits. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
For the sake of simplicity, Dr. Sykes has given each of these Seven Daughters (also called “clan mothers”) modern names: Jasmine, Katrine, Tara, Velda, Helena, Xenia, and Ursula. Personally, I would have gone with a much different set of monikers—maybe Aretha, Carmen, Adele, Frida, Rosa, Zora, and Beyoncé—but I digress.
As an added bit of interest and interaction, those who know their maternal haplogroup (mine is U5a1b) can discover which clan mother they’re most directly descended from. I am team Ursula (aka Beyoncé).
Where Dr Sykes loses me comes about 200 pages in when he decides to give all the clan mothers elaborate, completely made-up back stories—what he calls “imagined lives.” For example, one accidentally invents the canoe and another domesticates a wolf. This, for me, is where The Seven Daughters of Eve shifts from intriguing science to oddly unnecessary historical fiction. It’s a literary experiment that falls flat.
But don’t let this deter you from reading this book. The fascinating first parts are well worth the discomforting and confusing last bits. 3.5 stars, rounded up.