The Handmaid's Tale — Margaret Atwood (1985)

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the most prescient dystopian novel written by a woman and one of the most discussed political novels of the 21st century. Written in 1984-85 from primary sources of actual historical events—nothing invented that humans haven't already done somewhere—it gained new urgency after the 2016 US election and the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. It outdoes #2, Beloved, in long-term influence, with over 8 million copies sold and a 40% increase in US library checkouts following the Dobbs decision.