A review by dawntin
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I Who Have Never Known Men is such an incredibly intriguing thought experiment: what makes someone a woman, or even a person, when so many of the typical markers of womanhood and modern life have been ripped away, never to occur again? I am echoing Sophie Mackintosh’s introduction to the novel here, but it really does make you ponder.

What struck me while reading was how the novel’s narrator learns for the sake of learning, and often dreams in the face of absolute despair. She states,
“I am the sterile offspring of a race about which I know nothing, not even whether it has become extinct. Perhaps, somewhere, humanity is flourishing under the stars, unaware that a daughter of its blood is ending her days in silence. There is nothing we can do about it,” yet “I cannot mourn for what I have not known.”
Her bleak predicament is characterized poignantly with some very meta moments towards the end. While I was ultimately a bit disappointed with the text’s pervasive ambiguity and how I never got answers to my questions, I also understand that this was just that kind of book.
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