Our Book Of The Month for March is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. For our online Book Clubbers we have some questions below about the book for you to get involved with. Either answer in the comments section or use as discussion points at your next Book Club (whenever that may be!)
I Who Have Never Known Men – The Blurb
‘For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changed’
Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. 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.
As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl – the fortieth 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 above ground.
Discussion Points
The following are written with the presumption you have read I Who Have Never Known Men. If you haven’t, bookmark the post for now so you can come back and answer the questions later.
- We never get to find out the narrators name. Is this significant?
- When the women escape they do not know where they are and even question whether they are on Earth. Where do you think they were imprisoned?
- How do you think the guards made their escape given that it was only 11 minutes after the siren started when the women broke free?
- The narrator comes across as the strongest of the group both physically and mentally. Do you think the women would have survived for as long as they did without her? Do you think they would have even left the first bunker?
- The narrator often refers to herself as different to the other women putting it down to not knowing the world before. Do you think this is why she is different? Could there be other reasons?
- Did you like the ending of the book? Do you think it could have ended up any other way?
Get Involved
Feel free to answer as little or as many of the questions as you like. Post your replies below, discuss with us on social media using @BookSocialUK, or pose some questions of your own. If you enjoyed answering our questions, have a go at last month’s Get Involved: The Hunting Party.
And come back tomorrow to read our #BigReview of I Who Have Never Known Men.
