Above Instinct

James Walker

Above Instinct follows a lone Paleolithic man through the ancient world’s violence and beauty as he searches for belonging and partnership. Bloodshed, winters, and hunger have steadily eroded his family and left him alone, but when his last family member dies, he hears of a peaceful and munificent group that could rescue him from loneliness and despair. Equipped with man’s resourcefulness, superstition, and aggression, he confronts man, animal, and nature, searching to end his isolation and hard existence. His own survival means conflict between man’s fundamental nature and wants, the desires and survival of others, and an indifferent and vicious early world.

Winner of the Letter Review Prize for Fiction.