I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Deep underground, forty 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 important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

If you are looking for an almost post-apocalyptic novel I highly recommend this one! It follows a unique plot line and kept me hooked from beginning to end. I was enthralled by the haunting portrait the author painted of a post-apocalyptic landscape and the journey to “freedom” on the surface.

This book has a beautiful way of describing not just the conditions they were kept in underground but also about topics like life, death and what love was. Our main protagonist is not a hero or a savior. She’s a survivor who while trying to navigate the new world they step into, never seems to be overly alarmed – just curious. An often quiet observer, our narrator notably is different from the other 39 women imprisoned. She doesn’t remember a life before they were locked away underground. And funnily enough none of the older women really do either.

While normally these post-apocalyptic books usually make me curious as to what, where and why in happened. The author ensures that the reader remains focused on the true points of the story. Instead of indulging the whys, I found myself enthralled by the scenery, the search that follows to find other people. Is there a bunker somewhere with others that are alive or dead? Were they the only one?

This book beautifully encircles what it means to be human. Actions like being locked underground seem to be more of an opening to a bigger picture rather than the focus of pity. The author brilliantly weaves in the elements that make us human. What’s compassion to someone who’s been caged like an animal and the freed? Can we believe in the rights of respect and empathy when the world appears to be out of alignment?

This is not a story that ends in a happy ending. This book that while science fiction feels very much like it could be science fact does not shy away from making and leaving its reader uncomfortable.

I have personally recommended this book to several friends. In a political environment where we feel like we are going backwards this book can be felt as an alarm bell. While written in the 90s it feels utterly timeless. It’s definitely making my top 5 books of the year for 2025, and it’s well deserved.

If you want a book that’s compelling and thought provoking I highly recommend it.

Trigger Warnings: Death, Suicide, Imprisonment, Torture

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Re-readability Rating: 10/10