This was recommended by Adam (and after the fact by Eric ). In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood tells the dystopic story of a young woman in a near-future society (apparently centered in Cambridge, with Harvard Yard as the thinly-disguised centerpiece) where most women are valuable only for their wombs. As in Erickson's Arc d'X, the central themes are freedom and slavery, and Atwood similarly asks: "what do we mean by freedom and what are its forms?" The Handmaid's Tale is extremely approachable and would be readable by almost anyone, but Atwood reaches beyond the apparent 10th grade readability with a consistency of metaphor and an ability to show without telling that reveals her strong talents. While this novel did not drastically alter my worldview, it made me think, which is to be commended.