Recently finished The Handmaids Tale. What next?

[thesnootyfox]

That's it really. I'm currently reading The Tribes of Britain but finding it a bit dull so thinking of getting another fiction book. Any recommendations?

Thanks.

The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favourite books of all time. What about something by Sarah Waters? I loved The Night Watch and The Little Stranger (the latter very spooky, if you like that sort of thing).

Spooky is good. I don't think
I have read anything by Sarah Waters. Thanks for the recommendation will pop down to Waterstones tomorrow (cheaper than
paying my extortionate library fine!).

jeanette winterson's 'the stone gods'?

Just googled that one too DrMummsy - sounds good will add that to my list too.

Liz Jensen - especially 'The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax' or 'My Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time.'

Winterson's autobiography (can't remember what it's called but it's Why Be something or other when you could be Normal?) is pretty good, especially the first half.

Have you read any Huxley? You might enjoy 'Brave New World'.

Never Let Me Go, following the dystopian theme? Or Cloud Atlas.

YY to Never Let me Go. Have you read other Atwood? I don't like Oryx & Crake but many people do. I really like The Edible Woman which was one of her earliest novels.

Also apologies if you've read these, old ones but:
Woman on the Edge of Time (Marge Piercey)
The Dispossessed (Ursula le Guin)
Native Tongue (Suzette Haden Elgin)

Oryx and crake, year of the flood. Both Atwood. They're same thing with different protagonists.

And yes to woman on the edge of time.

I LOVED Atwood's Surfacing and Alias Grace.

Ooh, I was going to say "Woman on the Edge of Time"! Love that book.

I don't like Oryx And Crake at all but quite liked After The Flood. Hated Never Let Me Go.

If you want a 'post-modern' dystopian, then 'World War Z' is great fun, but not at all high literature!

The book of new eve by Angela carter, or any carter really. Strong feminist themes, literary, turn-the-world-on-its-head type of tales!

Alias Grace and Lady Oracle, both Margaret Atwood

Remus, it's 'Why be happy when you can be normal' by Jeanette Winterstone - absolutley brilliant, read it not long ago

Cats Eye is my favourite Atwood.

The Cleft by Doris Lessing?

oooh quite fancy some of these

'why be happy when you can be normal' is super, as is woman on the edge of time

These sound great. Thank you.

Nice to know I'm not the only person who remembers Woman on the Edge of Time fondly. Must dig it out and re-read - does it stand up to it?

Cat's Eye is my favourite Margaret Atwood.

I recently did a run on Ira Levin - The Stepford Wives, A Kiss Before Dying and Rosemary's Baby. I was surprised how "fresh" they were considering they were written quite a while ago.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks is very good.

Or The Road by Cormac McCarthy - though I was a bit traumatised by that one. It's dark and heavy and doesn't let up. I did enjoy it though, saying that and many of his books are not so 'happy'

YY to The Road & the Wasp Factory. I made myself finish Oryx and Crake but found it quite hard work... Loved the Handmaid's Tale though, and the Edible Woman.

You've all got here first: The Road, Brave New World...

you may also want to try The Children of Men by PD James. I haven't read it yet, but have enjoyed others of hers and Children of Men is a similar situation re reproduction. the Road is a fantastic book (and film) but very bleak.