i who have never known men, a review

Title: Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes (I who have never known men).
Author: Jacqueline Harpman (1929-2012).
Published: 1995.
Pages: 188.
Genre: Science fiction, dystopia, literary fiction, feminism.
Translation: Translated from French to English in 2022 (republished) by Sophie Mackintosh.
Rating: 4 out of 5 hangovers.

It’s a heavy one and I don’t know how to write a bit about it in a way that I can give it justice AND not spoil the ending.

A woman, whos name we don’t know since it’s never mentioned, tells us the story of her life in a cage with 39 other women. None of them know how they got there or most importantly, why they’re even there. Although it doesn’t bother the main character, since she’s the only one who doesn’t know about life before the cage, it does make her feel like the odd one out since the other women have some memories of their lives before they got where they are today. She has none. This is all she knows. The four gray walls and her mattress.

Imagine someone whos never known music, felt or seen the rain, heard a man’s voice, seen animals, barely any colours, nature and trees, furnitures or carpets, never felt a hug since physical contacts of any sort aren’t allowed, never known privacy, different items of clothes than the one she always wore, the alphabet or any number, paper, pens and books and so much more. She never even knew the concept of privacy since all women shared one toilet which was located in the middle of their room. Not even her own fucking age. All women have been stripped of everything that makes one human and she has no experiences what so ever until a certain event happens that changes the trajectory of the story completely.

It’s dystopian and disturbing, slightly depressing with themes of sisterhood, survival and loneliness, but the story also fills you with excitement and hope simultaneously.

At first I thought that the ending was a bit meh, but it actually makes so much sense when you think about it. And when I got it, I thought it was genius! Very thought provoking but also memorable.