Title: The Handmaid’s Tale            

Author: Margaret Atwood                

Genre: Dystopian, Classics          

Publisher: Emblem       

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 358

Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

In this internationally bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning vision of an increasingly possible near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the”Handmaids” whose purpose is to breed. In the new social order in which women are told they are being controlled for their own good, Offred lives in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is sent out once a day to the food market, chaperoned; she is is not permitted to read; and she is hoping the commander makes her pregnant, because if not she’ll be sent to a toxic work camp, or end up as a sex slave in Jezebel’s. Offred can remember the years before, when she was an independent woman, had a job of her own, and a husband and a child. But all of that is gone now… everything has changed. At once a brilliant satire, dire warning, and eulogy for lost values, this devastating novel has become a modern classic.

Review:

I finally read The Handmaid’s Tale! I feel like I waited too long to read this book, which has become a classic within our society! English teachers use it in their classrooms, people quote it in speeches and other forms of writing, and I have felt behind the times for so long! I really enjoyed this book, and can see how it can grip readers! 

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The book follows Offred, which is not her official name, but the name given to her as a Handmaid in the republic of Gilead. Here, Handmaids are responsible for bearing and giving birth to children! It’s quite a barbaric concept, in the sense that women being used for reproductive purposes would put us back in time, not forward. The book highlights other ways women are oppressed within society, and really connects well to women’s experiences. It made me think of all the times the novel has been used when talking about women’s rights within society, and the lack thereof of rights in some instances! The book is thought provoking and relevant, even though it was written in the 1980s. I highly recommend that everyone read this book at some point in their lives!

Happy reading!