This is a brilliantly written book which sees the author, a self professed member of the middleclass English white gerontocracy, pontificate the cycles of life throughout the ages since prehistory. The Romans, Christianity, and the Beaker people all get a look in, but the book focuses in particular on his relationship with the ancient Neolithic ancestors of his Dorset home – the builders of the famed Stonehenge - with whom he inhabits a ‘parallel worlds of two tribes separated by a blip of time.’ The author describes Stonehenge as the first cathedral of the Avonlands, bringing us through the various stages of occupancy of the region. In what at times reads like a memoir, his passion for the area shines out as we learn of an abundance in nature; he imagines the first settlers, too, fell in love with the rich River Avon and all it had to offer as they watched it ‘running south towards the Sun.’ The book focuses in particular on the imagined hardworking life of a skeleton, that of a Neolithic woman, found near his house and who he now purports to be Zuri; we learn of her diet, relationships within her riverine culture, her connectedness with nature and of a spiritual journey she takes to Stonehenge; wider questions are also considered like what part pagan women had to play in society – that of an equal compared to the Christian sense. Being a professional Undertaker all his life, Ken has great insight into rituals and mythology pertaining to death as he and his beloved gerontocracy are on the cusp of it, living more than twice the age than Zuri’s people would ever live. As a social history, it’s full of humour. Interspersed by both fact and fiction, Ken West’s imagination translates into his writing in a truly outstanding fashion. Read and learn of Stonehenge and its people who lived and breathed to literally adore the elements; contrast to a modern tribe many of whom fail to understand the significance of Mother Nature. ~ Carina McNally, Reviewer

A very engaging, interesting read. Well written and researched. If you know nothing about the time period, it won't matter, the book has you covered explaining everything. For such a short book, it's packed full of information. I recommend it to any history lover. ~ Shelly Myers (Reviewer), NetGalley

If I'm honest the Neolithic period is not one that has interested me much. I know it's where our history was forged but there is so little information it's hard to get a real handle on it. Enter Ken West, some great research plus a whole lot of imagination and finally, it has come alive for me! By drawing comparisons to today and conjuring up Zuri, a character very easy to emphasise with despite many difference West has lent some solidity to the period. I really enjoyed this - the writing style is informative but with some dry wit slid in to keep us entertained. A short but enthralling read. ~ Patricia Doyle (Reviewer), NetGalley

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book, which is a mixture of fact and fiction (but the fiction is plausible conjecture). As such, it reads more easily than just fact, and is more enjoyable than pure fiction because it has the nexus with the real world. I learned a great deal about the people of the Avonlands (as he calls them), Stonehenge, the Beaker culture, and methods of burial, pottery-making, skin-curing, and much more. Ken West brings the past alive in a way that I liked and I think that older students would like, as well. ~ Janette Forman (Educator) , NetGalley

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. John Hunt Publishing and Chronos Books promises that My Pagan Ancestor Zuri provides insightful parallels between Neolithic life and present day, with a focus on social history. The author's imagination delivers a picture of the life of Zuri, a female in the farming community around Avonlands during Neolithic times. Ken West's portrayal of the every day life of Zuri is full of facts that are woven into a story of Zuri's life. One of my favorite aspects of this book is that I could read each chapter as an essay, a stand alone reading that allowed me to reflect on the similarities and the differences between Zuri and the current population of gerontacracy. It was a soothing read for me as the portrayals of wildlife, plants, climate and everyday living were woven into a view of life both ancient and modern. I was drawn into the sense of place, both natural and man made. Another aspect that I particularly enjoyed was Ken West's sense of humor, particularly when he makes wry observations of the mindset of gerontocracy or the current state of the world in regards to politics. His title for Chapter 22, The Advent of Bling, made me laugh out loud. In that chapter West introduced the reader to the Amesbury Archer, which in West's view should be held with the same veneration as Otzi. The Archer was a tribe member of the Beaker People from Europe, and the Beakers would have introduced the Bronze Age to the Stone Age mindset of Zuri's community. They showed up to Stonehenge with copper and gold, and West described quite a dashing physical appearance for the Amesbury Archer, which included fancy leather in addition to the bling of the copper and gold. My Pagan Ancestor Zuri was a treat to read. ~ Angela Gibson (Reviewer), NetGalley

By imagining how our ancestors lived back in the Neolithic period, the author follows the life of Zuri, a woman who leaves her hunting-gathering tribe to enter a farming community. Contrasting this ancient way of life is the author's current one in a city not so far from the famous site of Stonehenge, in Christchurch, England which makes for interesting reading. This book made me think about how our ancestors might have lived and how they adapted to the environment around them. I didn't know that much about the environment in Dorset before reading this, but it was interesting to learn that the coastal and riverine environment was likely what lead neolithic people to the site, much as it has led current residents who enjoy the climate and scenery. Of course, we can imagine that Zuri had more to do than enjoy the view. Life must have been hard for early man, who may have lived no longer than thirty years. And it is a pity that we know so little about them. Who knows how much knowledge these people accumulated and transmitted to others in the area. By imagining how Zuri approached rituals, mythology, and everyday events, Mr. West makes the reader think more about early life in Dorset. For example, these people likely had a diet rich in marine life and later with the adaptation of farming practices, more primary forms of grains where included. This is in striking contrast to our overly processed diets of today. Plus, West suggests their diets might not have been as bland as we might imagine. It is also fascinating to think about the differences in things as simple as our eyesight. Until Mr. West pointed it out, I hadn't considered that those early humans may have been able to see more than us because they lived purely by the light of the sun and moon and spent much more time outdoors in total darkness than we ever do today. Overall, this was a well written book, and more interesting than I had anticipated, making me think a lot about how our ancestors might have lived. Thanks to Chronos Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. ~ Susan Miller, http://susannesbooklist.blogspot.com/

I often read and review books for John Hunt, and they always publish quality books, so I do trust their publications. I thought the book sounded interesting. And it was! My Pagan Ancestor Zuri is a bit of a UFO when it comes to books. To me, it's a bit of a mix between nonfiction, historical speculation, historical fiction and memoir. Ken West manages to successfully intertwine all these genres to create a very unique result. You can tell he knows his subject well. I liked that his speculation was always backed up by evidence. Creating the character of Zuri (the historical fiction aspect) allows to make (pre)history more real. The memoir aspect of the book, with the gerontocracy tribe, draws interesting parallels and comparisons between life then and life now for "tribes". Ken West does an excellent job of creating a multidimensional picture of these Stone Age people that will break the usual stereotype we all know (i.e simpletons in animal skins). A very engaging, interesting read. If you know nothing about the time period, it won't matter, Ken West has you covered explaining everything. For such a short book, it's packed full of information. ~ Camille Brown (Reviewer), NetGalley

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Chronos Books, for providing me with this ARC. I really do appreciate you guys sending me your new titles. Let me start out by saying that I’m really not at all interested in the Stone Age; it’s just not my cup of tea. The only reason I took one this title was because Sarah and Ben asked me to give it a go. I must say that I was very surprised. Normally books about the Stone Age are based on whims and don’t have any support to go along with them. This one was different. You could tell right away that Ken had done his homework and put a lot of time and effort into creating this story. This book is a mix of nonfiction and fiction. We have Zuri’s tale, which is based on fact, but her story is fiction. However, it comes across as nonfiction. Ken has paid so much attention to his research and detail that it reads like nonfiction. Now, there is nonfiction in here. We get to learn about Zuri’s people and the culture of Ancient Britain. As Ken has pointed out, these were not simple people. There was a very complex society in place. I mean, do you really think that simple people built Stonehenge-which is something that I do want to see? I also like how Ken made comparisons and contrasted Zuri’s life with ours. This took a lot of craft, I think, to pull it off and have a valid point. I mean, I’ve read a good bit if nonfiction and so many times that argument is lost in the story. I read one like that not just too long ago. To hold onto your points and have that support really shows something. I really did enjoy Ken’s writing. This is not a long volume and it is not a difficult read at all. Ken really lays everything out and explains it in a way that everyone can understand. You really don’t need to have any kind of background knowledge on Ancient Britain or even the Stone Age. You really just need to read the book and go along with it. Now, all of the talk about the elderly did get old and that’s why I knocked off a star. I don’t really see what talking about Ken’s flowers and how society looks at the elderly has to do with this book. That’s just me though. Overall, a really well written and put together book. Again, it’s not all nonfiction, but the story part is so well done that you will think you are reading something right out of history. I mean, really, it does feel like you are traveling with Zuri and her family. This book comes out on August 1, 2019. I will hopefully have a book preview up on Youtube sometime soon; I usually post them closer to the release date. ~ Alyson Serena Willow Stone, serenastone.livejournal.com

An interesting and engrossing read, I liked this book. It's a good mix of facts and fiction, well written and well researched. Recommended! ~ Anna Maria Giacomasso (Reviewer), NetGalley

I found this book to be an interesting read and something I would not generally pick up. The author has well researched his work and the combination of fact and fiction blends well. ~ Hayley Thompson (Reviewer) , NetGalley

This was a really interesting comparison between Neolithic life and present day life in the same area. I really appreciated that it went in detail about various different things, including plant life, climate, wildlife and the social life of both eras. ~ Emily Ross (Reviewer) , NetGalley