I Who Have Never Known Men: Synopsis, characters & review
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is a dystopian tale that’s as unsettling as it is unforgettable. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill book review.
In this post, I’m sharing my honest thoughts, breaking down a cast of characters that’ll leave you both mystified and fascinated (yes, even about that enigmatic narrator), and offering a clear synopsis to help you navigate this labyrinth of oppression, isolation and raw survival.
Keep reading to lean more about the synopsis of I Who Have Never Known Men, the characters, followed up by a quick book review.
I Who Have Never Known Men synopsis.
Discover the haunting, heart-breaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy set in a deserted world. Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus? Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before.
But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone an 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. The woman who will never know men. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURE
I Who Have Never Known Men characters.
Here is a quick break down of all the characters in I Who Have Never Known Men, from the named to the nameless. Each one plays a unique part in Harpman’s dystopian tale, adding to a story that thrives on both identity and mystery. Explore some of the I Who Have Never Known Men theories and themes here.
The nameless narrator.
In I Who Have Never Known Men, the narrator is a young girl known only as “child” and she has no idea how she ended up in an underground cage or why she’s there. Growing up lacking human connection might sound like a recipe for endless loneliness, but for her, it’s just another day.
The guards.
Speaking of which, the guards are a real treat with their whips, which they threaten to use on the prisoners often. Armed and stoic, they make sure everyone stays put. They feed the women and keep the place secure, with an eerie calm.
The other women.
Then there are the 39 other ladies, who still remember what life was like before they got consigned to their underground bunker. They’re forced to live without even a hint of privacy and are prohibited from getting too close with one another. Here are the list of names of the women characters who live in the bunker alongside our narrator, mentioned in I Who Have Never Known Men although we never get the full list of 39 names.
The child (Narrator)
Anthea
Dorothy
Annabel
Carol
Alice
Anna
Laura
Mary
Mary-Jane
Frances
Claudia
Emma
Greta
Rose
Margaret
Denise
Bernadette
Elizabeth
Angela
Get I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman here.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman: Review.
My rating: ★★★★★
If you enjoy wondering if you’ll ever feel hope again, this book's for you. I Who Have Never Known Men makes The Road by Cormac McCarthy feel like a stroll in a park. The premise is straightforward enough. 40 women, caged in a bunker for reasons no one’s sharing.
This isn’t the kind of book that’s here to comfort. It’s dark, bleak, terrifying, yet also profound. It made me sit in discomfort and confront survival, freedom, and what it even means to live.
The silence about what happened to the world is louder than any dystopian world-building ever could be. And at first, I wanted the explanations, the “why,” the rules of this world. But the more I read, the more I realised that the silence is the whole point of the story.
If you’re on the hunt for a happily ever after, you might want to look elsewhere, because this book doesn’t do redemption or catharsis or answers. What we do get is a meditation on what’s left when everything we think makes us human such as love, connection and hope, is stripped away.
By the time I turned the last page, I was left reeling and grappling with the enormity of my own insignificance. It’s frustrating, haunting and unforgettable.
Highly recommend if you’re a masochistic reader, like me.
Enjoyed reading I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman? You may also enjoy reading:
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Grave Empire by Richard Swan
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
