“(...) everything I'd been longing to get away from, true, but not through destruction. I'd wanted to leave home, but have it stay in place, waiting for me, unchanged, so I could step back into it at will.”

Canadian novelist and poet of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, she is best known for her dystopian fiction, particularly *The Handmaid’s Tale*, which explores themes of oppression, resistance, and the fragility of power. Her work also spans speculative fiction, literary criticism, and environmental commentary, often blending sharp social observation with poetic precision.