I Who Have Never Known Men

I Who Have Never Known Men

First edition
Author	Jacqueline Harpman
Original title	Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes
Translator	Ros Schwartz
Country	Belgium
Language	French language
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Seven Stories Press, Avon Eos
Publication date	1995
Published in English	8 April 2018
Media type	Novel
ISBN	9781888363432

I Who Have Never Known Men, originally published in French as Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes, is a 1995 science fiction novel by Belgian author Jacqueline Harpman. It is the first of Harpman's novels to be translated into English. It was originally published by Seven Stories Press, then republished by Avon Eos.^[1]

Synopsis[]

Thirty-nine women and a girl are being held prisoner in a cage underground. The guards are all male, and never speak to them. The girl is the only one of the prisoners who has no memory of the outside world; none of them know why they are being held prisoner, or why there is one child among thirty-nine adults.

One day, an alarm sounds, and the guards flee; the prisoners are subsequently able to escape. They find themselves on an immense barren plain, with no other people anywhere, and no clue as to what has happened to the world.

Reception[]

The book was a finalist for the 1995 Prix Femina.^[2]

The New York Times described it Never as "bleak but fascinating", and "about as heavyhearted as fiction can get".^[3] Kirkus Reviews compared it to the Handmaid's Tale, and said that it is "thin", but "moving" and "powerful".^[4] L'Express called it "poignant" and "magnificent", and the product of a "profoundly original imagination".^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• I Who Have Never Known Men title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

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