June Book Club: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Our book for this month is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman and Translated by Ros Schwartz. I Who Have Never Known Men was first published in 1995 in French and re-published in 2022, leading to a resurgence of popularity.

Description
"As far back as I can recall, I have been in the bunker."

A young woman is kept in a cage underground with thirty-nine other females, guarded by armed men who never speak; her crimes unremembered... if indeed there were crimes.

The youngest of forty—a child with no name and no past—she survives for some purpose long forgotten in a world ravaged and wasted. In this reality where intimacy is forbidden—in the unrelenting sameness of the artificial days and nights—she knows nothing of books and time, of needs and feelings.

Then everything changes... and nothing changes.

A young woman who has never known men—a child who knows of no history before the bars and restraints—must now reinvent herself, piece by piece, in a place she has never been... and in the face of the most challenging and terrifying of unknowns: freedom.

Other stuff
We will be meeting in the Brewhouse & Kitchen on Cotham Hill from 7pm. We've arranged with the pub to use their events space upstairs to ensure we'll have space to accommodate everyone. Please consider buying a drink from the bar downstairs to support the pub! We expect the event to last for around two hours including a break. We look forward to seeing you there!