I Who Have Never Known Men aka The Mistress Of Silence, by Jacqueline Harpman

Second paragraph of third section:

Moi, je n’avais jamais rien entendu de semblable, mais les femmes se figèrent aussitôt car elles avaient reconnu la sirène d’alerte. C’était une clameur énorme qui montait interminablement en arrachant les oreilles. Je fus saisie de stupeur et je crois que, pour la première fois depuis que je l’avais acquis, je perdis le décompte du temps. Les femmes qui étaient assises se levèrent d’un bond, celles qui étaient à la grille pour prendre la nourriture reculèrent. Le gardien lâcha son trousseau en le laissant dans la serrure et se retourna vers les autres. Ils se regardèrent un instant puis, d’un même mouvement, prirent leur élan et coururent vers la grande porte, poussèrent les bat-tants devant eux en les ouvrant tout à fait, ce qui n’avait jamais eu lieu, et sortirent.I’d never heard anything like it, but the women froze, because they’d recognised the sirens. It was an ear-piercingly loud, continuous wail. I was dumbstruck and I think I lost track for the first time since I’d acquired the ability to count time. The women who were seated leapt up, those who were at the bars collecting the food, recoiled. The guard let go of the bunch of keys, leaving them in the lock and turned to face the others. They looked at one another briefly, and then they all rushed towards the main exit, flinging the double doors wide open – something they’d never done before – and ran out.
translation by Ros Schwartz

Our unnamed protagonist has spent her entire life locked up with with thirty-nine adult women in a cage in an underground bunker. The first third of the short, punchy book sets that up in some detail. And then, suddenly, it all changes. The guards disappear and the women manage to escape – but to where? Are they on Earth? Is there any chance of rescue? Is there anyone else left alive at all? It’s not a very happy book, but it is gripping, and you can get it here.

I’m astonished that I had never heard of this before. Jacqueline Harpman, a Belgian psychiatrist, also wrote Orlanda, a gender-switching fantasy which I enjoyed last year. Unfortunately those are her only two books which have been translated into English. Her others include La Dormition des amants, which is set in the Spanish court in an alternative sixteenth century; and Mes Œdipe, a retelling of the Oedipus myth. Sadly I don’t think my French is quite up to attempting them.

This was my top unread book by a woman. Next on that pile is Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh, which I have actually read before but I’m going to take it together with its sequel.