The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood took inspiration from newspaper articles published around the world to create this dystopian novel. After the events of September 11th, the novel bears re-reading: "They shot the President and machine-gunned the Congress," the main character says, explaining the takeover of the United States. The laws that prohibit women from being seen, from obtaining an education, plus the brutal public punishments for any offense against the state of Gilead (the former US), all find eerie parallels in Afghanistan today.