The Handmaid's Tale

This novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a strict religious regime that has taken over part of the former United States. Falling birth rates have led the new rulers to strip women of property, work and independence. The narrator, Offred, is a handmaid, assigned to a powerful household for the sole purpose of bearing a child.

Through her careful, watchful voice we see daily life under surveillance, and we glimpse the freer world she remembers. The book is a landmark of dystopian fiction. It asks how rights can be lost, how language and ritual are used to control people, and how individuals keep hold of hope and identity.