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

5.0

Gripping. As the reader, you don't know what to expect even when you're told exactly what to expect. Harpman explores humanity, grief, love, isolation, perseverance, and acceptance in such a quick read. I highly recommend the audiobook, Nikki Massoud, brought this novel to life.

Memorable quotes:

"I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all"

"Even a person raised in captivity learns to want, yearns to see beyond their cage. How much of our humanity is intrinsic? How much remains, when all else is stripped away?"

"Sometimes, I used to sit under the sky, on a clear night, and gaze at the stars, saying, in my croaky voice:

"Lord, it you're up there somewhere, and you aren't too busy, come and say a few words to me, because I'm very lonely and it would make me so happy." Nothing happened. So I reckon that humanity- which I wonder whether I belong to —really had a very vivid imagination"