Summary

In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s Commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive. At once a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense, The Handmaid’s Tale is a modern classic.

Why I chose to read this book
I bought this book for my mother’s birthday a few years ago; she is also an avid reader. I knew she would like this kind of story. She later lent it to me while I was pregnant back in 2020, but advised me to not read it while pregnant. As many of you may know, pregnancy hormones are especially intense, and emotions are heightened so even though I was intrigued, I didn’t argue and waited until my daughter was about 14 months old before reading it. I was heading to the hairdresser and grabbed whichever book I hadn’t read yet that could fit in my purse. I didn’t feel like mindlessly scrolling on my phone the whole time so I brought this book to read instead.

Thoughts & Opinions

I want to start by saying that this classic novel is incredibly well written. This took me back to why I fell in love with reading in the first place. When authors have this much talent, I’m in awe. When I read a book and think; wow, I would never have thought to describe something in that way, or come up with such unique allegories, that’s when I know I’m holding a work of art in my hands, and that is truly inspiring. I haven’t seen the television show or the movie adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale so I started reading with only the summary as information.

I must say it was confusing at first because the narrator is talking about an established world that is different from ours. You get the feeling right away that it’s a dystopian world because nothing is quite right. It reads like a diary so you have to make your own conclusions sometimes but you get the gist of it pretty early on. They use terms for groups of people and each group has a different purpose. The way it’s being described is almost like a religious sect. The women in this book had their lives completely changed from one day to the next.