The Handmaids Tale

by Margaret Atwood
Along the ideas of The Children of Men, The Handmaids Tale is set in a future where fertility rates have dropped. In this case a small percentage of women do have viable ovaries and they have become the Handmaids. This tale is told first-person from a Handmaid herself, from observations on her current state of affairs to recollections of how the world got this way.
Essentially the religious fundamentalists came to power and women are not allowed to read, or write, speak ill of the government, or have much identity at all. Above all they are not allowed to have sex outside of the monthly "ceremony" to get pregnant. Handmaids are shuttled from one couple to the next trying to get pregnant. If a Handmaid becomes pregnant she has the baby, the Wife keeps it, and the Handmaid is moved on to the next couple.
There's a lot of talk about this society being for the women's "protection." Birth rates declined apparently because of too many abortions and too many abortions came from having too much sex, and having too much sex came from women being harlots. So a government took over where these things were regulated and the men are in charge. Of course if this is the religious right then women, being the cause of original sin, are the enemy. And like most strictly regulated societies there is a underworld of rebellion and revolution. There is even a controlled underworld-the Jezebels, whores who are detained by the government.
This story is told so well by Ms. Atwood. It is a short book but every word is chosen carefully and the telling is very concise. It's chilling to think the world could become like this, but it's also comforting to know that the human sense of rebellion will never die.