Set in the part of England once known as The Lake District and frequented by hordes of landscape hungry tourists, ''The Carhullan Army'' is narrated by a young woman who has adopted the name Sister. Britain after its union with the United States and numerous unsuccessful foreign wars, has found itself in the grip of a severe fuel crisis and the country is now under the control of a severe body known as The Authority. All fire-arms have been handed over to the Government and all women have been fitted with contraceptive devices; this Britain of the near-future is brutal and very-near desperate. Sister's only hope - or so she thinks - lies in finding the Carhullan Army: a mythical band of women who lives a communal existence in the remote hills of Cumbria.A ''Handmaid's Tale'' for our times, Sarah Hall's novella is about women, terrorism, and individual choice. As compelling as it is believable, ''The Carhullan Army'' represents yet another stage in her development as one of Britain's most original and relevant story tellers.