Heather’s Review: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale
written by Margaret Atwood
published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1986

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Target, Walmart, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. It was an engaging and interesting story. Even though it was written in 1986, the story is still relevant today, maybe even more so. It’s not hard to imagine this same thing happening in the US today.

Ms. Atwood’s storytelling is full of imagery and details that bring the story and characters alive. It wasn’t hard to put myself in Offred’s place and imagine walking down the street with her partner or viewing the hanging bodies at The Wall or even the disturbing and awkward private dates with the Commander.

I didn’t appreciate the way Ms. Atwood ended the story. If she’d ended with Offred’s capture/escape, I could have gotten okay with it. But having a professor, one thousand years in the future, discuss the “recording” was too much of a distraction and disappointment that it took me out of the story.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely, it’s a good book and I highly recommend reading it before watching the show on Hulu.

 

About the book – from Goodreads: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…