‘I Who Have Never Known Men’ Surfaces Thanks to BookTok

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, September 6, 2026

Belgian author Jacqueline Harpman’s 1970s novel “I Who Have Never Known Men” has gained renewed popularity through TikTok’s BookTok community, selling around 800,000 copies since its 2022 English translation. This resurgence highlights the novel’s impactful feminist dystopian themes and demonstrates how social media can revive interest in older literary works.

A decades-old novel by Belgian writer and psychoanalyst Jacqueline Harpman has found new popularity thanks to social media platforms, particularly TikTok’s BookTok community. The English translation of Harpman’s “I Who Have Never Known Men,” published by Transit Books in 2022, has sold approximately 800,000 copies, according to the publisher, drawing fresh attention to the work nearly 50 years after its original release.

The novel presents a dystopian and feminist narrative centered on an unnamed female protagonist. The story unfolds in a subterranean cage where 40 women are held captive under the watch of a succession of male guards. The women have no recollection of life before imprisonment, with the narrator recalling only the confines of the cage. When the guards abruptly abandon their posts, the women seize the opportunity to escape into a desolate, Earth-like landscape that appears devoid of civilization.

Readers and commentators have compared the novel’s themes to those in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” with journalist and novelist Emily Gould describing it as “The Handmaid’s Tale for Gen Z.” While this comparison highlights its feminist dystopian perspective, the novel’s impact lies in its exploration of identity and human resilience under conditions of extreme isolation and control.

The story’s retrospective narration emphasizes the psychological and emotional development of a person raised without a functioning society, grappling with the absence of touch, love, or knowledge. The narrator reflects on existence in a world where familiar social rules do not apply, encapsulated in the line, “It is impossible to predict what might happen in a world where you don’t know the rules.” This uncertainty forms the core of the narrative, inviting readers to consider how identity and community are constructed amid deprivation and the unknown.

While the plot moves forward with the women’s escape and attempt to make sense of the outside world, the novel refrains from providing clear answers about the reasons for their imprisonment or the nature of their environment. Instead, it offers a meditation on survival, connection, and the human spirit in conditions that challenge the very foundations of society.

Jacqueline Harpman, who passed away in 2012, had a career marked by both literary and psychoanalytic pursuits. The resurgence of her work through digital platforms underscores the potential for older publications to find new audiences long after initial release, illustrating the evolving ways readers engage with literature today.

This article was reported by synthesizing coverage from multiple independent news outlets to present a balanced, unbiased account. Read about our editorial standards. Spotted an error? Let us know.