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’ *****

Jacqueline HarpmanRos Schwartz - translatorSarah LambieVintage Digital

Dystopian

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Post-Apocalyptic

Science Fiction

Women's Fiction

Women's Voices

Emotionally Gripping

Heartfelt

Thought-Provoking

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

Most relevant

I began listening to the introduction, and as soon as I got a hint it was giving a little too much away, I skipped it and went straight into Chapter 1. I'm so glad I did! This book is amazing, compelling, and had me totally engaged.

I went back at the end to listen to the introduction again and was so glad i hadn't listened to it first because it gave spoilers or literally the whole book.

This has such an interesting, unique story and it brilliantly written.

The introduction does say it's been enjoyed by a relatively small audience, so I'm not sure why they'd give an introduction with play-by-plays of the plot, like you'd see in universally-known classics. This book is full of gripping tiny reveals and best enjoyed with as little prior knowledge as possible.

I loved the narrator. She was slightly slow for my taste, but I listened at 1.2x speed and it was totally perfect.