The Gate to Women's Country (S.F. Masterworks)

The Gate to Women's Country might seem a simple tale at first: after a man-made apocalypse has ended society as we know it, the world has transitioned into two partitioned groups. The women seem to be ruling by enclosing themselves with few men in walled cities, while the men are happy to patrol the outside and defend the city from all outsiders, glad to be playing along as "warriors". But the novel hides in plain sight so many other layers, including a vivid depiction of the nature of the sexes and their interaction, the eternal quest of humanity to make themselves better and, ultimately, what it really means to be a man, or a woman. Highly recommended on so many levels.