Episode 18: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (with guest Richard Swan)

The Binge Reading Bookclub

The Binge Reading Bookclub
Episode 18: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (with guest Richard Swan)
Jun 25, 2026 Season 2 Episode 5
The Binge Reading Bookclub Podcast

This month we take a deep dive into the epic speculative sci-fi novel I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Released in 1995, this novel follows the story of 'The Child' who has only ever known life locked un in a cage underground with 40 other women. Upon their escape, they discover a desolate landscape and slowly realize they may be the only survivors of an apocalyptic event. 

We have Sunday Times Bestselling author Richard Swan (Empire of the Wolf and Great Silence trilogies) to break down what makes this novel special. Our writing craft focus this month is 'Liminality' - that hard to discern quality of being in between spaces. The empty corridor of a large hotel, a multistory carpark late at night, and most often depicted as semi nightmarish places in popculture like Backrooms and severance. 

So how do you convey this feeling in a less visually aesthetic medium like writing? Well Nicholas and Richard break it down for us, and give us tips on how to include it in our own works. 

LINKS:

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Episode Artwork Episode 18: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (with guest Richard Swan) 1:05:02 Episode Artwork Speed Binges: Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared 31:04 Episode Artwork Episode 17 - Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (with special guest Tariq Ashkanani) 1:01:48 Episode Artwork Speed Binges: Palm Mall Mars by 猫 シ Corp. 30:24 Episode Artwork Epsiode 16: Star of the Sea by Joseph o'Connor (With best selling author Shauna Lawless) 1:04:59 Episode Artwork Speed Binges - 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (With Crystal Riley) 34:57 Episode Artwork Episode 15 - The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow (With Special Guest L.R. Lam) 1:03:28 Episode Artwork Speed Binges - The Chair Company 24:32 Episode Artwork Episode 14 - Excession by Iain M Banks (with guest author David Goodman) 1:02:23 Episode Artwork Speed Binges - Extremity by Nicholas Binge 32:35 Episode Artwork Episode 13 - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (or Writing Psychological Realism) 53:02 Episode Artwork Episode 12 - The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (or a Plot Twist? How About a Narrative Twist?) 1:04:08 Episode Artwork Episode 11 - Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho (or how to write conflict without killing anyone) 54:43 Episode Artwork Episode 10 - Xenos by Dan Abnett (or How does one blend genres?) 58:17 Episode Artwork Episode 9 - Homefire by Kamila Shamsie (or a nice change of perspective) 49:57 Episode Artwork Episode 8 - Leech by Hiron Ennes with guest Sunyi Dean 58:40 Episode Artwork Episode 7 - Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (or Epistoral Structure, the emphasis on the 56:14 Episode Artwork Episode 6 - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (or the Importance of Voice and Narrative Tone) 56:30 Episode Artwork Episode 5 - Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (or A Weekend in the Countryside by Samanta Schweblin) 1:03:28 Episode Artwork Episode 4 - Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (or Laini's Superpower is Writing Prose) 1:01:01 Episode Artwork Episode 3 - Planetfall by Emma Newman (or An Unreliable Narrator, or Were They?) 59:27 Episode Artwork Episode 2 - We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (or How to Write Wide Characters) 59:54 Episode Artwork Episode 1 - What is the point of this podcast? 30:34