13 June 2025
I Who Have Never Known Men Review With 23 Book Club Questions
Reviewed by: Melissa Ng
Quick Facts
Book Publication Date: 1 January 1995
How I Read It: Borrowed from my local library
Where You Can Find I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman: Amazon Australia* | Kobo US* | Kobo Canada*
| Libro.fm*
Content & Trigger Warnings: Abuse, child abuse, death, violence, self-harm, suicide, grief, captivity
I Who Have Never Known Men Summary
Deep underground, forty women are locked in a cage, watched by guards, with no memory of how they got there. They have no clocks, no windows, and no answers.
Among them is one girl – the youngest. She remembers nothing of the time before the cage. The cage is all she knows.
One day, the women manage to escape, and the girl will become key to their survival in the dystopian world that waits above.
Bleak? Yes.
Brilliant? Also, yes.
I Who Have Never Known Men Review
Wow. I had to stare at a wall for 3-5 business days after reading this book. I immediately want to reread it.
What I Loved:
✔️ Bleak in the best way: If you’re after sunshine and rainbows, look elsewhere. But if you love your dystopian fiction dark, moody, and emotionally devastating, this one delivers. The atmosphere is eerie and claustrophobic, and the writing perfectly matches the grim setting. If you liked The Handmaid’s Tale*, check out I Who Have Never Known Men.
✔️ Makes you think: What would you do if you woke up in a cage underground with no idea why you were there? And what would you do after you got out? This book poses big questions and doesn’t hold your hand with the answers. It’s ideal for book clubs because you’ll want to unpack every tiny detail with someone else.
✔️ Mysterious and addictive: It’s a quick read but deceptively deep. The mystery keeps you turning pages even as the answers stay just out of reach.
What I Didn’t Love:
There’s not much.
❌ Unanswered questions: This might be a dealbreaker for some. If you like your dystopias tied up with a neat bow and a glossary of what happened, you’ll be yelling at the final pages. But honestly, the open-endedness felt kind of perfect. Haunting, frustrating, and perfect.
Final Thoughts:
They call I Who Have Never Known Men a modern classic, and I totally get why. It’s haunting, minimalist, and packed with existential dread (in a good way, I promise).
It’s also a great book club pick. You’ll be bursting with questions, theories, and half-baked ideas that’ll keep you talking long after the last page.
Five stars. No notes.
Memorable I Who Have Never Known Men Quotes
Death is sometimes so discreet that it steals in noiselessly, stays for only a moment and carries off its prey, and I didn’t notice the change. When I was certain it was all over, I lay there for a long time, holding her to me, as she had wanted.
Perhaps nobody will ever come, perhaps one day, an astounded human being, arriving at the foot of the stairs as I did so long ago, will see the dark wood-panelled room, the neatly arranged bed, and an old woman sitting upright, a knife in her heart, looking peaceful. It is strange that I am dying from a diseased womb, I who have never had periods and who have never known men.
I Who Have Never Known Men Book Club Questions
- What were your favourite and least favourite moments in the book?
- Why do you think the prisoners were in the underground cage? Do you think it matters?
- What do you think happened to make all the guards disappear?
- Where do you think this book takes place? Would the story have worked the same if it were set in a recognisable place or time?
- Is there any significance to the number 40?
- Do you think any other prisoners managed to escape their cage?
- Why do you think the female prisoners were separated from the male prisoners?
- What do you think happened to the people on the bus?
- Do you think there’s any point teaching children language, math, and skills when they grow up in the cage?
- The girl is never given a name. How did that affect your connection to her as a character?
- Do you think the younger guard ever took notice of the girl as she took notice of him?
- Do you think the guards knew what was going on? Or were they as in the dark as the prisoners?
- What would you do if you found yourself imprisoned in a cage?
- What did you think of the ending? Did you predict any of it?
- This book covers tough topics: abuse, violence, death, suicide. How do you think they were handled?
- What do you think this book says about topics such as female friendship, survival, and knowledge?
- How did the girl’s relations with the other women shift throughout the story?
- What role does memory play in the novel? Is forgetting a form of survival?
- What do you think happened to the world after the end of the book?
- There are many unanswered questions. What questions would you like answers to?
- Have you read any of Jacqueline Harpman’s other books*?
- How does this book compare to other dystopian books you’ve read?
- If I Who Have Never Known Men was adapted into a movie or TV show, which actors would you cast for each character?
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