This is a chilling glimpse into a future where women are imprisoned and reduced to breeding machines. The writing is stark and unsentimental, yet the humanity of the repressed women is revealed through their courage. Glimpses into the narrator's life (particularly with her family) before the regime add insight and poignancy.

Horrifyingly, many aspects of the scenario are quite reminiscent of certain sects and ultra-conservative ideologies in the current world. Anti-feminist ideals are starkly taken to their ugly conclusion and women exist solely for the use of men. The bodies of those who used to perform abortions are found hanging from hooks. Those in positions of power do little to help those forced to be beneath them.

Anti-feminists (with feminism simply meaning equal rights) are likely to become annoyed by this book, because the conclusion to which it takes their standpoint is extremely ugly. However, personally I found it gripping and absolutely fascinating. This is highly recommended reading as a reminder of the horrors of totalitarianism from a female perspective.