The Handmaid’s Tale, published in 1985, is a dystopian novel. Its Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, would call it ‘speculative’ rather than ‘science’ fiction. It is set in the United States of America in an unspecified near future. She imagines a situation in which a totalitarian theocracy has taken over, after a period of extreme liberalism. The new state calls itself Gilead, after a mountain, named in Genesis 31:22, on which was taken an oath to let God be the judge in human affairs and disputes. The ‘tale’ of the title is an account by a woman whose real name is never disclosed (though it can perhaps be deduced). Throughout the novel she is known as Offred - ‘of Fred’. In Gilead women are entirely subservient and some, the Handmaids, are slaves to their masters – each is known by her master’s name and is expected to produce his children. Gilead has a dire shortage of children because of toxic pollution of the atmosphere leading to the malformation and death of foetuses, and also because of the easy accessibility of abortions in times past - a practice now punishable in Gilead by death. Through her writing in The Handmaid’s Tale Atwood presents us with a series of challenges about our own society and also a series of moral dilemmas.