Review: I Who Have Never Known Men

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A short book that provides massive food for thought.

I found this novella to be utterly amazing. The narrator is about fifteen at the beginning of the story. She lived in a cage underground with 39 other female prisoners. She was the youngest and remembered nothing about life before being caged.

The other prisoners remembered life before. Many of them had been married with children before their world changed. Sadly they remembered very little about the transition from normal life to imprisonment. Perhaps they were drugged at the time. They didn't know.

The narrator has no name. She is called "Child" by the other women. She wants to know everything but most of the women are not forthcoming with any information. She's frustrated by that.

There are male guards around the cage observing them closely. If any rules are broken they are dealt with swiftly by use of a whip.

The story develops from there, but I don't want to spoil your surprise at learning what happens, so I'll stay silent about the rest. I found it to be very thought provoking though it doesn't answer every question a reader might have. I think that's part of the beauty of this story.

I consider this novella to be very much worth reading. Expect topics that many people would consider TMI but understand this main character has no understanding of why anything might be TMI. She just wants to know everything and that's hard when all you've ever known is the inside of a cage filled with a lot of women who tend to ignore her.

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