OLD Book Club

OLD Book Club–obscure, lesser-known, and, hopefully, divine–aims to explore the diverse array of books we call “classic” and to discuss the malleable bounds of the category while also making an often intimidating genre feel both more accessible and more fun. The selection of books intentionally covers a broad range of nationalities, experiences, cultures, and time-periods to broaden the traditionally narrow parameters of classic literature. Most importantly, we’re here to have a good time. Put on your most UNpretentious (figurative) pants and come talk OLD books!

This month we are reading I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz The OLD Book club will meet at 6 PM on Thursday, August 7th.

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 a 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.

Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

Purchase a copy to read, or grab it from the library, and join us for discussion at Dog-Eared Books at 6 PM, on Thursday, August 7th. This book club is free to anyone who wishes to participate, no registration required

Also, for 20 minutes after each club meeting, you will receive 20% off all books and merchandise!

Content Warnings for OLD Books Club 2025
Content Warnings for I Who Have Never Known Men
Content Warnings for Bless Me, Ultima
Content Warnings for The Women’s Courtyard
Content Warnings for Ceremony
Content Warnings for Ice