Des femmes imaginaires

by Jacqueline Harpman, Amélie Nothomb (Préface)

« La vérité est que je ne peux imaginer d’autres vies que la mienne sauf en les prêtant à des femmes imaginaires. »

En quarantaine revient sur un souvenir fondateur de l’enfance de l’auteure à Casablanca, en pleine Seconde Guerre mondiale. Dans Le Placard à balais, une romancière se met à rêver les aventures extraconjugales d’une jeune bourgeoise prisonnière d’un mariage sans amour. La Forêt d’Ardenne, texte précurseur à Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes, dépeint un groupe de soldats qui fuit une étrange menace au coeur de la forêt.

Dans ce recueil inédit, Jacqueline Harpman met en scène des femmes singulières, prêtes à tout pour s’affranchir des conventions et asseoir leur liberté.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Adult, Dystopia, Speculative Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2026

About the author

Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929. Being half Jewish, the family moved to Casablanca when the Nazis invaded, and returned home after the war. After studying French literature she started training to be a doctor, but could not complete her medical studies when she contracted tuberculosis. She turned to writing in 1954 and her first work was published in 1958. In 1980 she qualified as a psychoanalyst. She had given up writing after her fourth book was published, and resumed her career as a novelist only some twenty years later. She wrote twelve novels and won several literary prizes, most recently the Médicis for the present novel. She was married to an architect and had two children.

Reviews

[emma]

after I Who Have Never Known Men i'm ready for whatever existential crisis this has in store for me

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read (I didn’t realize this was 100 pages) but not necessarily one that will stick with me.

The Ardennes Forest is a great first story with an ominous, ambiguous set-up that feels very reminiscent of I Who Have Never Known Men. It was by far my favourite of the three.

The Outcast was solid — there’s an excerpt that gives the necessary historical context, and the story itself has a few interesting things to say about perspective.

The Broom Closet was a bit of a flop for me, sadly. A woman conjures up a fictional woman and her adultery, but the layers of storytelling don’t quite work in such a short story. Again, this one is quite similar to Orlanda, another of her published works.

If you like Harpman’s work I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! I just think objectively it’s difficult for three ~30 page stories to offer much lasting impression. These are by no means a cohesive trio, and I’m curious if they’re early ideas for what later became her novels? The parallels are hard to ignore!

Thank you to Transit Books for the ARC!
—-
Jacqueline Harpman will always have a fan in me <3

[Maxwell]

Billed as three stories about defiance, this small collection showcases Harpman's unique and varied styles of writing with her signature ability to create atmosphere and use fiction to reveal the artifice of human existence.

"The Ardennes Forest" - calling to mind the speculative/post-apocalyptic setting of her beloved novel I Who Have Never Known Men, we follow a group of soldiers assigned the task of wandering and surveying a forest for years on end, leading them to question the meaning of their work and the pitfalls of blind obedience.

"The Outcast" - an intelligent young girl experiences the realities of conflict and the inability for logic to win over emotion amidst a politically shifting culture.

"The Broom Closet" - a meta-narrative in which Harpman contemplates storytelling by bringing the reader into the creative process to craft the life of a young, passionate woman in 1920s Belgium, exploring ideas of female agency, marriage, and the creative process.

If you aren't already a fan of Harpman, I'm not sure these 3 short stories will completely win you over. They're good, though the collection feels a bit randomly put together and obviously at only 90 pages total there's not a lot of material here. I enjoyed them all for what they were and would recommend, but wish it had been a fuller collection with a more clear throughline.

"The Broom Closet"

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three of the best short stories I’ve ever read.

[makayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

She’s done it, she did it, and she will continue to do it with every translation

[ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first story, liked the second story, & was confused by the third story.

[Cass (the_midwest_library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story is phenomenal, transported me right back to I Who Have Never Known Men and the deep exploration of morality I felt reading it.

The second story isn't as strong in my opinion, it felt unfinished....or maybe I just didn't quite grasp the reason the author needed to tell his story.

I wish we had a few more stories but overall it was a fabulous read.

[Hannah (hngisreading)]

Thinking about this one!!! Phenomenal writer ofc just gotta get my thoughts in order

[Brandy Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read, just not a memorable one.

[Livvie Boylan]

I have been waiting for more Jacqueline Harpman to be translated I am SO EXCITED

[Matthew Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three short stories by Harpman translated from the French. The first is very similar to her novel, I Who Have Never Known Men, a book that has caused a stir in online book communities (and is pretty good). It has the same quiet desperation: a group of people wander aimlessly through a forest, wondering if 'the war' is still waging or not. The second story is a strange, possibly autobiographical story, about two rival schoolgirls. I possibly enjoyed the last story the least, but it was, at least stylistically, the most compelling. A meta story, constructing itself as you read it. Overall a fine trio that can be read in an afternoon, but nothing special.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Harpman’s writing. The first two stories were really strong, but the last one pulls down the rating to a 4⭐️. Also I think my Barnes put this out too early??? Because idk how I have this if it isn’t published yet 🤓

[Alix · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The first short story was easily my favorite because it had the strongest narrative. The second story was autobiographical, which didn’t engage me as much. The third story was metafictional and while I could appreciate what Harpman was trying to do by blurring the lines between author and story, it ultimately didn’t work for me. Overall, this collection was a bit of a mixed-bag, but it was well-written.

[perusewithjess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may or may not be a hot take, but I think literary fiction as short stories are difficult to pull off - mostly because they risk feeling underdeveloped, especially when it comes to character work (which I feel is usually the defining part of a litfic).

These stories had some beautiful prose - the first one especially was more reminiscent of I Who Have Never Known Men. But as a whole I didn’t feel super connected to this collection. The blurbs for each also felt like they oversold the concept (i.e., execution didn’t live up for me).

Not terrible, but didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I acknowledge that the expectations/reality gap is in large part due to IWHNKM being such a resonant story.

3/5 stars

[Lorin (paperbackbish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman — out now!

» READ IF YOU «
🌲 love dystopian and literary fiction
📚 are still thinking about I Who Have Never Known Men
🚪 want women who harbor a quiet defiance

» SYNOPSIS «
Three never-before-translated stories from Jacqueline Harpman, loosely connected by a thread of defiance. In "The Ardennes Forest," survivors of war wander an endless woodland, forbidden from ever stopping. In "The Outcast," a Jewish girl in the 1940s is reprimanded for questioning her teachers. And in "The Broom Cupboard," a young wife fulfills her husband's desires, until she starts wondering about her own.

» REVIEW «
"The Ardennes Forest" was a clear standout for me, and if you loved I Who Have Never Known Men, this one will likely scratch that itch. It’s got the same eerie, unexplained dystopian setting, and the same slow-burn unraveling of "why are we doing this, again?" There's something so unsettling about characters who adhere to strange orders long after the reason for them has evaporated, and Harpman writes that dread beautifully.

"The Outcast" is a very different tone but still sharp, and then "The Broom Cupboard" closes things out on a genuinely feral note—hear me out, but it's got an unhinged Simone de Beauvoir energy, like a more feral cousin to The Woman Destroyed. Watching a woman's compliance curdle into something else entirely, in real time, was a delight.

Three very different flavors of stories, all in Harpman's singular, spiky voice. A great, short companion piece to I Who Have Never Known Men.

» RATING «
🌳 I'm Wandering 🌳

» READ-A-LIKES «
• Into the Forest (movie)
• The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir
• The Country Will Bring Us No Peace by Matthieu Simard
• The Vegetarian by Han Kang

[Méli]

Parce que j'ai eu accès aux deux versions en même temps; quelques notes de lecture.

La version française inclus une postface écrite par la fille de Jacqueline Harpman qui a malheureusement été omise dans la traduction anglaise. Elle offre des souvenirs de sa mère, des explications sur l'origine des histoires du recueil.

Pour l'autobiographie En quarantaine, la traductrice a ajouté une note pour mettre l'histoire en contexte. D'ailleurs, la traduction est impeccable. Je crois que je préfère son ordre des histoires à celle de la version française.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harpman has a way of writing, and Schwartz a gift of translating, that I just am drawn to. These short stories were compelling. The first and third being particularly good.

A nice and quick way to start Women in Translation Month 2026.

I rated this 4 stars on Story Graph which is a cool non-Amazon affiliated alternative to Good Reads. Check it out.

[Paige Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

An interesting collection of independent stories tied together by the theme of resistance. The first felt more like Harpman’s “I Who Have Never Known Men” (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and the rest were a very drastic departure from those works stylistically. Not bad!

[Karina Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What was the point of our strict compliance if the world where the decisions had been made no longer existed?”

This is a collection of three short stories; the first was absolutely phenomenal and reminiscent of I Who Have Never Known Men as it was set in an eerie dystopian post-apocalyptic world. I craved more from this. The second short story was autobiographical and frankly forgettable. The third story was metafictional which was cool but somewhat confusing. I love Harpman’s writing style and how every story is through a feminist lense but prefer reading her sci-fi stories.

[victoria marie]

August 2026, Women-in-Translation Month(listed in order read)

1. We Were Forbidden, Jacqueline Harpman (tr. Ros Schwartz)
2. The Summer Book, Tove Jansson (tr. Thomas Teal)
3. The Weight of Things, Marianne Fritz (tr. Adrian Nathan West)
4. The Taiga Syndrome, Cristina Rivera Garza (tr. Suzanne Jill Levine & Aviva Kana) (RR)

[January to July: 53; August: +4]

[Kutoof · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two short stories are meaningful and moving. I could not make sense of the last one.

[Bethan Hiscocks · Rating 3 out of 5]

First story was great, the other two just felt like add ons so they could publish a short story ‘collection’

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like when writers get a lil punchy with their sentences

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow

[Ellis (whatellisreadnext) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a shame because the first story was so interesting but the rest fell a little flat for me. They didn't feel like they worked well together in one collection. Which is a shame, but I am glad I read it.

[mar]

i would sell my soul to be able to write like her

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franchement j’ai adoré et la dernière nouvelle « la forêt d’Ardenne » m’a tellement fait penser à à son livre « moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes », j’ai adoré !
Cette autrice écrit tellement bien et la postface par sa fille était très touchante
Bref j’adore les femmes qui écrivent sur les femmes

[Dylan Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second story is the only one I felt reached the levels of her other works I read. The broom closet is interesting as an examination of writing and how fiction comes from a person. The first story is just a prototype I Who Have Never Known Men and just kinda does everything the novel does but not as well as the novel does.

[Íris · Rating 3 out of 5]

O único conto que merece a pontuação é o primeiro. Os dois últimos não se destacam de qualquer forma relevante para mim.

Claro que isto faz muito mais sentido quando se considera que me apresentei à escrita de Harpman através de I Who Have Never Known Man, logo esperava que todos os contos fossem semelhantes.

O primeiro, que foi o meu favorito, de facto se aproximava à obra que li anteriormente dela: um grupo de combatentes na floresta de Ardennes, na França, moral e militarmente incumbidos de proteger o perímetro da floresta, mesmo nunca recebendo notícias de a segunda guerra ter terminado. É o tipo de conto que vive num espaço liminal, estranho mas vagamente realista, e ainda assim tão difícil de se assemelhar a um evento verídico, tal como a trama de I Who Have Never Known Men.

Não me vou debruçar sobre os outros porque não achei interessantes o suficiente para isso.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved I Who Have Never Known Men, so I immediately checked this out when it became available. My feelings are very mixed.

I really enjoyed the first story, The Ardennes Forest. Though it doesn’t have the feminist tone I Who Have Never Known Men has, the story is eerily similar. It’s almost like seeing an artist’s sketches for a masterpiece. It has that same otherworldly, empty feeling that will leave you thinking. I’d definitely read this one if you’re a Harpman fan.

The second story, The Outcast, was interesting, but I’m not sure if it was worth giving up reading time for.

The final story, The Broom Closet, was a flop for me. I didn’t find anything to connect with, and the storytelling didn’t resonate with me.

I’d pick it up just to read Ardennes and skip the rest.