I read this one a long time ago, when it was first released. It was the cover of the book that caught my eye, the woman looking like someone out of a Brueghel painting, her face and body obscured by red and white. If you're an educated woman, this is a terrifying novel to read. It shows in sparse, poetical language of a dystopia gone mad, where fundamental Christianity has run rampant, where Thou Shalt …showed first 75 words of 632 total…

…showed last 75 words of 632 total…I've read it several times over, and it has become one of my favorites for sheer style and craftsmanship. A warning to the reader, some of the scenes in this book are particularly violent, but nothing too graphic is depicted. A film version of this was made in the late 80's that is not particularly interesting, but it did get several vivid sections of the book correct, with the requisite Hollywood happy ending tacked on.