I Who Have Never Known Men

I Who Have Never Known Men
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 New York Times described it Never as "bleak but fascinating", and "about as heavyhearted as fiction can get".[2] Kirkus Reviews compared it to the Handmaid's Tale, and said that it is "thin", but "moving" and "powerful".[3]

References

  1. ↑ The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 1984-1998 at Locus; retrieved April 27, 2011
  2. ↑ "I Who Have Never Known Men": Books, by Sally Eckhoff, from the New York Times, published September 14, 1997, retrieved April 27, 2011
  3. ↑ I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN, by Jacqueline Harpman, at Kirkus Reviews; published May 1, 1997; retrieved July 18, 2014


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