The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is a radical departure for Margaret Atwood. Set in the near future, in a locale that oddly resembles Cambridge, Massachusetts, it describes life in what was once the United States. Now, however, it has become the Republic of Gilead, a monolithic theocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans, and has gone far beyond them. This regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for women, and for men as well.

The story is told through...Read more

Reviewed by wcs53 on

5 of 5 stars

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It took me a while to get round to reading this book, but I'm glad I finally did. I figured I should at least read it before watching the TV show.

This is, at times, a harrowing story. There were moments of hope, but these were drowned out by the overall despair of the situation of Offred, the narrator of the story, who is the Handmaid referred to in the title. What was most interesting for me is the this book was written over 30 years ago, yet it spoke to many of the things happening in our world today. What I liked most about this book was that the reality of the world in which it was set was slowly revealed and that it wasn't all obvious from the start. I also enjoyed the way that the past, including how things got to how they were, was also revealed slowly, bit by bit. This made it a very interesting and compelling read.

I'm not going to get into the plot much, as I wouldn't want to give much away. It's worth the read and is a book that hasn't aged over the years since it was first published.

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  • Started reading
  • 20 July, 2019: Finished reading
  • 20 July, 2019: Reviewed