This is my Meadowlake Book Club’s choice for March. I’ve just started reading it but can already tell I’m going to like it. Goodreads gives it a 3.99 average rating and Amazon gives it 4.1/5 Stars. Here’s an excerpt from the Library Journal review:
In a startling departure from her previous novels ( Lady Oracle , Surfacing ), respected Canadian poet and novelist Atwood presents here a fable of the near future. In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the mono-theocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist’s nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the “morally fit” Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: “of Fred”), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be. This powerful, memorable novel is highly recommended for most libraries.
3 thoughts on “The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood”
Read it years ago, loved it.
Intense and strange book but thought provoking and a oddly feels familiar. I read Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace in my 20s and that book has stuck with me. I like her writing style but she has a blunt and dark tone. I need to read something more lighthearted now.
Read it years ago, loved it.
Intense and strange book but thought provoking and a oddly feels familiar. I read Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace in my 20s and that book has stuck with me. I like her writing style but she has a blunt and dark tone. I need to read something more lighthearted now.
Loved it long ago. Need to read again.