Booker Prize for Fiction

Set in the near future, America has become a puritanical theocracy and Offred tells her story as a Handmaid under the new social order.

As Japan rebuilds her cities after the calamity of World War II, the celebrated painter Masuji Ono should be enjoying a tranquil retirement. But as his memories continually return to a life and career deeply touched by the rise of Japanese militarism, a dark shadow begins to grow over his serenity.