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Oct 22, 2019YakkingYogini rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I'm re-reading this novel in preparation for her sequel, The Testaments. My sister gave this book to me as a young adult. When I finally read it, I was horrified! The novel has a ghoulish, other-worldly atmosphere that harkens to the Puritan culture of America's past (e.g. The Witch of Blackbird Pond) and their harsh ways. The setting is dystopian with hints that a major world war has occurred and the environment has become toxic. Since human population is decreasing due to nuclear fallout, young women who are fertile are in great demand to repopulate the earth. The caveat is: they have been turned into concubines for older married couples and forced into sex slavery to bear children for these chosen old fogies. Most of the time, the babies are stillbirth or genetically damaged. But the babies who are born normal get immediately removed from the young mother and given to the privileged, virtuous, older woman. Virtuous is defined as those who embrace the New World Order, which has become a Fundamentalist Christian nightmare! As a young woman, reading this story for the first time, I was beset with creepy dreams. 4 stars given instead of 5 for giving me creepy dreams! (less)