I Who Have Never Known Men

Name: I Who Have Never Known Men
Author: Jacqueline Harpman

Jacqueline Harpman

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4.0

Rating

173

Pages

2022

Published

Dystopian

Genre

Dystopian · Science Fiction · Literary Fiction

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. 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.

Characters

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The NarratorMain CharacterOdessa Young

AntheaNarrator's companionRooney Mara

DorothyGroup's leaderJudi Dench

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Reviews

4.0 average· 1 review

Novelust user

Sep 15, 2025

4.0

This reads like a modern classic. It’s super rare that I pick up a book that is more than a decade old. As the Afterword mentions, this could have been written 100 years ago, or 100 years in the future - it’s truly timeless. Would have been five stars, but proactively deducting a star as I fear this book will haunt me. 😅