One novel--from a collection that includes more television shows and movies--among the best scenes:
Read the rest of the feature.The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The powerful birth scene in this novel makes Atwood's point very clearly. The way this society treats birth is meant to dissolve any connection between the biological mother and her child, keeping her as a brood mare rather than a Wife. There are parallel deliveries: The handmaid gives birth, surrounded by other handmaids, then the infant is handed off to the Wife, surrounded by other Wives. The work of reproduction and child-rearing are split right down the middle, denying the mothers any influence over society's future.
The Handmaid's Tale made Lisa Tuttle's critic's chart of the top Arthur C. Clarke Award winners and PopCrunch's list of the sixteen best dystopian books of all time.
--Marshal Zeringue
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