The Passion of New Eve is a novel by Angela Carter, first published in 1977. The book is set in a dystopian United States where civil war has broken out between different political, racial and gendered groups. A dark satire, the book parodies primitive notions of gender, sexual difference and identity from a post-feminist perspective. Other major themes include sadomasochism and the politics of power. Carter described the book as feminist black comedy.
Background
Carter began work on The Passion of New Eve in January 1972, inspired in part by the Greek myth of Tiresias, who was turned into a woman as a punishment from the goddess Hera. Originally, the book had the title The Great Hermaphrodite and was set in ancient Rome; she later moved the setting to a post-apocalyptic United States.