"A cautionary tale, well-written, with excellent character characterization, a fine love story, as well as much food for thought...an elegant science fiction novel." —Ann McCaffrey
This classic work of feminist science fiction finds the world reordered. Following a nuclear holocaust, women have used advanced technology to expel men from their cities, bringing them back only for purposes of loveless reproduction under the guise of powerful goddesses. When one young woman, Birana, questions her society's deception, she finds herself exiled amongst the very men she has been taught to scorn. As Birana and her reluctant male protector Arvil grow closer, their feelings for each other just might mend their fractured world—if they somehow manage to survive.
“Pamela Sargent gives meticulous attention to a believable scenario....a captivating tale both from the aspect of the lessons that the author tries to impart and from the skills she has used to tell it.” —The Rocky Mountain News
“How many perfect science fiction novels have I read? Not many. There are at most three or four such works in a decade. Pamela Sargent’s THE SHORE OF WOMEN is one of the few perfect novels of the 1980s….Her story of a woman exiled from a safe high-tech city of women, the man ordered by the gods to kill her, and their search for a place of safety, is powerful, beautiful, and true.” —The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction