I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN BY JACQUELINE HARPMAN - BOOK REVIEW

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BOOK NAME: I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEM

AUTHOR NAME: JACQUELINE HARPMAN

GENRE: DYSTOPIAN

PUBLISHER: VINTAGE

 



I should have known. I should have just known. I should have taken all the warnings seriously and prepared myself for the destruction that was about to come. 


What happens when forty women are retained inside a chamber and none of them knows how or why they were brought there? What happens when they try to sneak out and go in search of a world that is habitable? What happens when they have to navigate a path where they are surrounded by deafening silence throughout? What will a woman do when she realises she is the only breathing, moving human left in the vastness that never seems to end? And that she has never known men before? And anything else, for that matter. 


This 187-page book is a concise novel that speaks of everything there is in this world—the earth, the moon, the colours, flowers, mirrors, beauty, rooms, lives, food, companionship, loneliness, literature, science, humanity, men, women and everything else. And when it ends, it leaves you with this soreness in your heart that will take forever to heal. This book isn’t just about self-discovery, resilience and survival. But also as much about female companionship, the art of showing compassion in the face of adversity and learning to live with oneself till the end. I was rooting for the main character all along, and I feel I left a part of myself behind with her as the book came to a close.


I Who Have Never Known Men is a book that will leave you with a post-completion void which is very difficult for any of its successors to fill. They can only compete to. The book can feel a bit heavy at times even though it’s less than 200 pages. But it is definitely a must-read I wish everyone would read it at some point in their life. I


This is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2026 with Piyush’s Plotters.

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