The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Wow! What an amazing book! The Handmaid’s Tale tells the story of Offred, a young woman who once lived in a free society but now lives in this sort of dystopian society 😩😟called Gilead where young women, handmaids such as herself, are treated as second class citizens, with no rights, no powers and a supervised existence. There are three main types of persons in Gilead:
🔹The Commanders 🧑💼- a group of men who were at the top of the societal structure
🔹The Wives 👩- who were married to the Commanders
🔹The Handmaids 👧 – young women, like Offred who have the ability to give birth to babies. They wear red cloaks (most of the time) and are ‘forced’ to bear children for the Wives and the Commanders
At first, I was a bit confused by the story because I could not understand who the Handmaids were, or the Commanders, or the Marthas, but after doing some research, I was able to understand the societal structure and fully immerse myself in this story 📖. Grasping the structure of the society was the key for me in understanding the book ☺️.
Overall, I found the book interesting but it was a slow burn and a bit hard to follow in the beginning. What I enjoyed most about The Handmaid’s Tale thou was the way the author seamlessly transitioned from different time periods in Offred’s life, sometimes we were in present day and other times, when relevant, we were transported to a time before and allowed to see how that situation in the past affected her decisions and her thinking in the present day ❤️. I enjoyed Offred’s detailed narration of her life in the past and her life under this new regime and that cliff hanger at the end had me on edge…..what happened to our girl Offred????????????? Who knows …..
In my opinion a better explanation of the social structure in Gilead at the beginning would have helped me enjoy the book more. Therefore, my overall rating 3.5 / 5.
Have you read this book or checked out the series? I haven’t watched the series as yet but I will sometime soon 📺.
Much Love,
Celly
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