I Who Have Never Known Men Audiobook By Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz - translator cover art

I Who Have Never Known Men

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I Who Have Never Known Men

By: Jacqueline Harpman, Ros Schwartz - translator
Narrated by: Sarah Lambie
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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 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Women's Fiction

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
Woah. One of the most moving pieces I’ve read recently for sure. It made me feel deeply and a lot. Incredibly beautiful, equally heartwarming and heartbreaking story about solidarity, love, death, loneliness, luck, coping with despair, and the meaning of it all.

It reminded me of Buttler’s Parable of the Sower in some ways, but it’s so much more quiet, disturbing and beautiful.

If you’re looking for plot twists - I don’t think this book is for you. But reading it for sure will be an _experience_, unfolding in powerful waves of profound hope and overwhelming distress. What a gem.

This story will make you feel so many things, like no other.

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I was clinging to every word in this book and it left me puzzled. but its a very pleasant listen

so much potential

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no podría dejar de escucharlo, lo terminé en tres días a pesar de que no es mi género favorito. la trama es atrapadora e impredecible. la historia entrañable, cruda pero no cruel.

excelente, te atrapa

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Amazing reading of a bleak and beautiful story.

“I am the sterile offspring of a race about which I know nothing, not even whether or not it has become extinct. Perhaps somewhere humanity is flourishing. under the stars, unaware that the daughter of its blood is ending her days in silence”

The voice of both speakers seemed to perfectly match

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I am unsure if I could say this with complete confidence but I think this is the best book I’ve ever consumed. If you are looking for answers, clarity or suspense then this is probably not your cup of tea. If you are looking for something to leave you pondering, something deeply moving without being emotional then this is for you. It is perhaps more niche than others but wow. Loved it so much.

Moving in the most subtle way

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