IWHNKM?

[MsAmerica]

I just heard of this 1990s dystopian novel, called I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman. Any of you read it?

I Who Have Never Known Men: the lost dystopia finding new readers after buzz on TikTok
First published in 1995 then virtually forgotten
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/feb/01/i-who-have-never-known-men-lost-dystopia-new-readers-after-buzz-on-tiktok

The 30-year-old dystopian novel that is the talk of TikTok
“I Who Have Never Known Men” is a haunting story—and readers love it
It does not sound like the sort of book TikTok typically enjoys. “I Who Have Never Known Men” (“IWHNKM”) does not feature wolves, fairies or the word “rutting”. It is a desolate post-apocalyptic tale, not a racy coming-of-age story. Yet thanks to social media, the novel is a hit—30 years after it was first published.
https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/12/01/the-30-year-old-dystopian-novel-that-is-the-talk-of-tiktok

Yes. It is very good. Disturbing, puzzling, bewildering, powerful.

Damned with faint praise as far as I'm concerned I'm afraid because if it's the talk of Tik Tok I 'm not interested in it.

That's a bit ignorant, booktok is a massive driver of what is successful in publishing these days, even if you aren't aware of it. There's nothing wrong with young women discussing books they love on social media (and I bet you could find people who would be equally dismissive of books that are popular on mumsnet, doesn't mean they are right).

Classic books that are popular on booktok (my teens have read several of these because of booktok):
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

So basically the same books that have appealed to young women for years.

This is in my TBR pile, maybe need to jump to the top now.

I read this last year. I think I expected too much from it, I found it ok but nothing spectacular.
I always find novels that have been translated to be a bit clunky though. I didn’t realise it was originally in French.

Booktok has its place and social media in general is a big component of most major publishers advertising now. I quite enjoy seeing younger adult readers getting into a book! As with all adverts, doesn’t mean it will be right for me, but it’s the way things are now.

I didn't like it at all. Gave up after chapter 3 as it really didn't grab me.

I'm sorry OP but I have a very low opinion of Tik Tok. And how it seems to make sheep out of people.

Of course I'm prepared to listen to peoples opinions of books and I often read reviews with interest but as soon as something is hyped up because it's popular on a social media platform that I have no respect for then I'm really very sceptical about it.

I thought it was great but I had no idea that I had read a TikTok sensation.

It's very haunting.

I've found some really good book recs through TikTok. It's got a little of everything. There's the ones who talk about the best sellers, then there's the history buffs, and biography buffs, all sorts of special interests.

I find it pretty useful as a tool for finding new reads in some not so mainstream genres.

I read this last week and absolutely loved it. It made me sob a few times through it and I'm now on the hunt for other similar books. It's probably one of the best I've ever read. It's absolutely bleak, quite disturbing but really makes you think.

Have you read The Road? That ticks the bleakness box.

@FrothyCothy I haven't. The movie is on my list to watch so I should maybe read the book first.

I have a low opinion of most mass social-media, too, but I wouldn't damn something just for being mentioned on it.

Well, I found The Road irritating and boring. I'm hoping for better with IWHNKM.

I don't read something BECAUSE it's bleak. I read something IN SPITE OF its being bleak.

It's a movie???

so if it was hyped up on mumsnet or guardian books or in the hay festival that would be okay?

I mean, you do you, but it seems as ridiculous to me to arbitrarily decide you won't like something just because of the means via which recommendations were made, as it would be to like something solely because it is shared on Tiktok. At the end of the day it's just women recommending books to each other, does it really matter how they do it? 50 years ago people were criticising TV for making sheep out of others and being a non-intellectual entertainment medium, 200 years ago it was novels...

Comes across as very snobbish and 'I'm not like other girls' of you tbh.

Anyway OP, I read it and enjoyed it. Incredibly bleak though, and frustrating because of the lack of answers.

I’m in the middle of it now and I’m enjoying it,
although I suspect it will just…end, with no resolution.

I really enjoyed the (audio)book, it stayed with me for days after I finished it.

If you liked this you might also like Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift.

I haven’t read it but it’s my pick for the book club I go to so it’s on the pile ready to go. Did I find it on Tik Tok? Maybe 🤷‍♀️. I get my recommendations from all over the place…. Foyles ( the Foyles Four )… Ann Patchett… a young man who has just got back into reading… a chap who’s a librarian in the US somewhere ( he and I have very similar taste and I was pleased to introduce him to Sarah Waters books). Tik Tok is just one channel in which I connect with other readers and books.

I enjoyed both (if that’s the right word). They are very different.

Comes across as very snobbish and 'I'm not like other girls' of you tbh

Well actually I'm a woman so I've not been like a girl for a long, long time.

I don't think it's snobbish to realise whose wavelength I'm probably not on.

Your thread title of only capitals, for a book you've just heard of, suggests you are on social media a lot.

No, never read it and unlikely to as not a fan of the genre. Great news for the author though!

Jacqueline Harpman died in 2012 - so good news for her estate maybe?! Not sure where the proceeds go after death.

They go to whoever inherited her estate.

I disagree. I think the source can matter.

A long time ago there was a wonderful foodie website called Chowhound, and I would have taken restaurant recommendations from them far more readily than in a general food forum on a chat site.