The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret AtwoodMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book gave me thrills and chills. Set in the future in America, one U.S. State has a major overhaul of the laws. Women of breeding age who are not biblically married (i.e. living de-facto, on their second marriage, in a homosexual partnership) are forced to go into the homes of older couples to breed. Told from the perspective of one of these women, the storyteller gradually tells you a bit about her past, a bit about the gradual changes that saw her in this situation, and a bit about the present.
This story was creepy in the sense that you can believe that such an event could happen. The laws and changes were made so gradually that no one realised what was happening until it was too late. Atwood tells this story so cleverly that I feel as if I know the main character intimately, event though we never even learn her real name.
I highly recommend this book. It is different, amazingly well written, and will keep you thinking for hours and days after you have finished it.
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I'm so glad you loved this! It's one of my all-time favorites. I read it for the first time when I was a teenager, and it gave me sort of an epiphany about what it means for me to be a woman. It started the first conversations between my mom and I about feminism and women's rights.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I finally got to read it. I hadn't been able to find a copy anywhere, but was able to get my hands on one overseas. I was mesmerized by it and read it so quickly. It had me thinking about the roles of women throughout the ages, and how lucky we are to have as much as we do. For example, I can choose whatever career I want, I have my own money, I don't have to leave my job when I get married, I am valued for more than just my reproductive capacity...etc. The book was just amazing!
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