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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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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
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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
Was fully emerged in this story, beautifully written. Interesting POV from the protagonist and story took me in an unexpected direction.

Enjoyed this fully

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This book had an unsatisfactory ending (I was longing for an epilogue to answer all the questions) but despite this, it was very impactful. The sense of hopeless loneliness in the last quarter of the book was so palpable that I almost felt panicked by it. The narration was superb.

Strangely powerful

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was very different from what I normally read but was very engaging, despite the mundane nature of the narrators life.

The narration was excellent and really added to the story

Unsettling and haunting

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This book is so chilling and so haunting. You have no idea what's going on or what's going to happen and how the plot will turn. It consistently keeps you on the edge.

Haunting

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A moving book about despair, resilience, and the importance of others, Incredibly moving. This one will stay with me.

The most moving narrative ever read

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