"The Handmaid's Tale," by Margaret Atwood

This book is best described as an eerily prophetic look at our potential future. As streaming service Hulu has begun releasing episodes of a television series based on this book, I thought it only right to read the modern classic before seeing its transition to the big - er, small - screen.

Set in a religious dystopia, The Handmaid's Tale takes place in what what once was the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, where a specific sect of Christianity now makes all the rules. With fertility problems on the rise due to excessive toxic pollution over much of Earth's land and sea, Gilead's populace has turned to an Old Testament-based system, derived from the biblical tale of Rachel and Leah, in which fertile "Handmaids" serve as often-unwilling surrogate mothers for powerful men and their wives.

The prose, although somewhat dense and at times confusingly-worded, is perfect for the story, and seems in itself a rebellious trait of the otherwise fearful protagonist, as women in this world are forbidden from reading and writing. As the tale alternates between present and past, the prose shifts with it, yet always remains in the present tense, as so many trauma survivors' stories do.

Offred, herself - the name being a patronymic derived from that of her master - is an incredibly well-written character. Her struggle between the world she remembers from only three years earlier and her fear of repercussions in her present reality create a strong conflict that teeters on the edge of destruction at any moment. Her resulting romances with three men throughout the tale - one past, two present - take three progressing formats: the first, rebellion; the second, compliance; the third, desperation. The reader is permitted a glimpse into the necessarily-shielded character of Offred through these romances, as we watch the world around her gradually begin to break her spirit.

Overall, this story is a gripping and terrifying glimpse into our own potential future. It is a warning - one which, alarmingly, no one seems to heed - about the reality toward which we are careening. And although the ending of Offred's tale is ambigious and slightly confusing, leaving more questions than answers, I like to think our own story may have a happier ending because of it.



Overall rating: (4.5 stars)