Which dystopian novel features the city of Gilead?

The dystopian novel that features the city-state of Gilead is Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Published in 1985, the novel imagines a near-future theocratic dictatorship that has overthrown the United States and established the Republic of Gilead.

The story is narrated by Offred, a fertile woman forced to serve as a Handmaid. Because Gilead faces severe infertility, Handmaids are assigned to powerful Commanders and compelled to bear children for them. Women are stripped of rights such as reading, writing, owning property, and controlling their own reproductive lives.

Gilead is not simply a fictional city; it is the name of the totalitarian republic and the society it controls. The novel's setting is primarily the former Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Common mix-ups include '1984,' 'Brave New World,' and 'Fahrenheit 451,' which are also famous dystopian works but feature different regimes and settings. Atwood drew on Puritan history and modern totalitarian movements when creating Gilead.