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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Transit Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 2010 first published in 1995
Format:  Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
Genre:   Dystopian Literary  Fiction

MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN”

I have seen this book on and off on social media; however, it wasn’t until I saw the paperback copy in Barnes & Noble that I was intrigued by it. I have been wanting to start reading more Novellas; I am not sure why, but I don’t gravitate towards Novellas that much. However, I have come to think that when I feel I am in a reading slump, a Novella is a good way to find my way back to reading.

As usual, I read very little about what this book was about; however, I was fascinated by page one. I have a soft spot for dystopian literary fiction, and this was spot on.

The book tells the story of 39 women prisoners in an open jail, being guarded 24 hours a day, without any recollection of how they got there, and even sadder, they remember very little of their past lives before being imprisoned. Among the 39 women is the youngest one, called “the Child”, who turns out to be their secret to escape. The story is narrated by “the Child”, and their story while in prison and after they escape.

The story is beautifully narrated. It’s sad and deep in despair and hope at the same time. The Child and the women are brave, strong, resourceful, and sad, with a lot of faith within uncertainty.

I must confess I was rooting for a happier ending; however, when reflecting (yes, I had to reflect on the ending), it was deserving of the story, and it was the fair conclusion.

PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON / GOODREADS:

Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others’ escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.

Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an essential addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

MY RATING: 4.0

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bibliography:

• We were forbidden
• Orlanda