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I Who Have Never Known Men

The heart-breaking post-apocalyptic TikTok sensation

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I Who Have Never Known Men

By: Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz - translator
Narrated by: Sarah Lambie
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.


THE HEART-BREAKING POST-APOCALYPTIC TIKTOK SENSATION

Discover the haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy set in a deserted world.

Deep underground, 39 women are kept in isolation in a cage. Aboveground, 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 40th 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 aboveground. The woman who will never know men.

Listeners Reviews:
‘The voice actor is FANTASTIC’ *****
‘Life-changing. An absolute must read.’ *****
‘Beautiful contemplation on what makes life worth living’ *****

©2019 Jacqueline Harpman (P)2021 Penguin Audio

 Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Women's Fiction Women's Voices Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

It is a novel about community, loneliness, and solitude, about intellectual awakening in impossible situations. It asks... What does it mean to be alive, to learn, to know? (Carmen Maria Machado)
A novel that takes you into philosophically interesting territory… this [is a] intriguingly dark thought experiment told by a compellingly alien voice – dispassionate and unfussy – is strangely fascinating
A vivid evocation of another world, alive with hope and dignity
A bleak but fascinating postapocalyptic novel… all the loneliness and oblivion of a deserted world won't stop us from following the narrator as far as she can go
All stars
Most relevant
brilliant listen, the narration is breathtakingly good. Don't listen to the Introduction before the book, do it at the end or it spoils it

a true dystopian book

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I liked everything about this, I’m finding it hard to put words together for it. Just please read it

Why aren’t people raving about this

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A story that will have you shed a tear and gasp. It is beautifully written. A must!

wow

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Profound and bittersweet. I was so sorry when it was over - I wanted to know more of this world. Masterful writing - will look for more by this author. Narration was also excellent.

Sublime

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I chose this book for our book club, as it had been recommended.
We haven't met up yet... it will be interesting to see what everyone else thinks!
It's a really interesting and thought provoking read, narrated beautifully by Sarah Lambe, but to say too much will spoil it, should anyone actually read my review.

In a vague 'nutshell' it's about captive women and a girl who has been captive all her life, their interactions, misunderstandings and relationships and survival and loneliness.

There are a lot of deliberately unanswered questions, which will mean that I'll probably be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

Well worth a listen, but not if you're feeling a bit low.



Thought Provoking, Interesting, But Bleak

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