It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a Handmaid in the home of the Commander and his wife. She is allowed out once a day to the food market, she is not permitted to read, and she is hoping the Commander makes her pregnant, because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she was an independent woman, had a job of her own, a husband and child. But all of that is gone now...everything has changed.
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Throughout her career, Margaret Atwood has played with different literary genres in her novels--historical fiction (Alias Grace), pulp fiction (The Blind Assassin), the comedy of manners (The Robber Bride)--but no foray into genre fiction has been as successful as her turn to speculative fiction in The Handmaid's Tale. Published in 1985, it echoes Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World, but a vibrant feminism drives Atwood's portrait of a futuristic dystopia. In the Republic of Gilead, we see a world devastated by toxic chemicals and nuclear fallout and dominated by a repressive Christian fundamentalism. The birthrate has plunged, and most women can no longer bear children. Offred is one of Gilead's Handmaids, who as official breeders are among the chosen few who can still become pregnant.
The Handmaid's Tale is an imaginatively audacious novel that is at once a page-turning psychological thriller, a moving love story, and a chilling warning about what might be waiting for us around the corner. What ultimately makes it stand out is Atwood's ability to balance a passionate political statement with finely wrought literary fiction. The Handmaid's Tale is a remarkable work by one of Canada's most inventive writers. --Jeffrey Canton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
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 monotheocratic 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. BOMC featured alternate. Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Jon Myer
Format:Paperback
Picture a world, not far in the future; consisting of low birth rates, oppressed females, religions, constant wars, and a never-ending battle for freedom of thought. That is the type of setting presented in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. This book tells the tale of Offred, who happens to be one of the few handmaids in the world. A Handmaid is a woman who is used as a tool for the leaders of the world in order to procreate. Sound scary? You have no idea. Atwood describes a world full of fear and oppression that is easily portrayed through the narrative of Offred. With her harrowing words, Offred describes the people, places, and her thoughts quite clearly, leaving readers only in the wake of her emotions. She speaks to the readers personally about her contact with an underground organization, her past, the events leading up to the present, her secret affair, and much much more. All I can say is that this book holds you in a grip of anticipation and mystery as to how the set of events will unfold. The only thing you can do while reading this book, is to hold on for a wild ride of excitement and suspense. This book is a change from Atwood's common writing style, but she seems to handle it like a pro. You will definitely feel a sense of satisfaction when you put this book down. I highly recommend it.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
If you're one for a novel that is truly off the beaten path, then stop--you've just found it. THE HANDMAID'S TALE is the most riveting and explosive thing I've read since Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (which completely blew me away). The story alone, even if it had been poorly written, is incredible, but what the author does with this material makes the telling all the more powerful. Wow! This is one great read!
By S Svendsen
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Atwood has a way with words. Her sentences are often poetic, but can be stark and abrupt, chopped off. At times this is intriguing but at other times irritating. This is a speculative novel about a newly established territory, Gilead, in north-eastern America, ruled by a secretive despotic regime. The Handmaid is Offred (her imposed Gileaden name), who is confined to an asylum where women are kept to breed a new generation of superior beings fathered by privileged "Commanders." She tells her story biographically. Often she has memory backflashes of her pre-Gilead life, her childhood, her mother, her husband Luke and their daughter. These recollections frequently surface mid-paragraph and even mid-sentence, which, as the mind works, is realistic but can be annoying for the reader who has to pause and sort out her present from her past.
Offred's somber tale describes a bleak situation that can be characterized as suffocating, lacking airiness. Her life is dreary and tedious, filled with obscure anguish. The overall theme is that women are helpless victims to men's schemes rooted in fascistic power structures legitimized by quasi-religious creeds and rituals. Instead of toeing the line, as she fails to conceive, Offred succumbs to her own need for emotional and physical diversion but these experiences only conspire to ensnare her rather than liberate. The last third of the book made it worthwhile for me but I thought the appendaged "Historical Notes" distracted from and complicated what would have been a furtively simple open-ended conclusion.
Religious fundamentalism, patriarchial oppression and political fascism are topics Atwood has woven into The Handmaid's Tale to interplay with a disconsolate feministic undertone.
Offred's somber tale describes a bleak situation that can be characterized as suffocating, lacking airiness. Her life is dreary and tedious, filled with obscure anguish. The overall theme is that women are helpless victims to men's schemes rooted in fascistic power structures legitimized by quasi-religious creeds and rituals. Instead of toeing the line, as she fails to conceive, Offred succumbs to her own need for emotional and physical diversion but these experiences only conspire to ensnare her rather than liberate. The last third of the book made it worthwhile for me but I thought the appendaged "Historical Notes" distracted from and complicated what would have been a furtively simple open-ended conclusion.
Religious fundamentalism, patriarchial oppression and political fascism are topics Atwood has woven into The Handmaid's Tale to interplay with a disconsolate feministic undertone.
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tribute to the classical writing style....
In the modern era very few authors have taken the time and effort to maintain the classical writing style that was so prevalent during the 19th and 20th centuries. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Ronald W. Maron
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very convincing
I just finished reading the book, and what can I say, AMAZING! Great read. The writing style is superb, very convincing, detailed and touching. It is very moving. Read more
Published on Nov 17 2009 by S. El-Hilo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mrs. Q: Book Addict : Visit my blog for newest reviews.
This book blew me away and I just wanted to keep reading. The world that Atwood creates doesn't feel that far off. Read more
Published on Oct 29 2009 by Mrs. Q: Book Addict
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, thought provoking, and well written
The Handmaids Tale is a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. This story takes place in the Republic of Gilead, the future version of the United States of America. Read more
Published on Nov 13 2008 by Kirstie
2.0 out of 5 stars
Magaret Atwood -- please no more political books
Margaret Atwood writes yet another book with more weak and obvious messages. I have read Oryx and Crake, then it was about genetic engineering, corporate power, etc. Read more
Published on July 29 2005 by Shirley Carter
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the very few books that you will remember forever!
Just perfectly wonderful. If you are a fan of "1984" by George Orwell you will be pleased by this fantastic but so realistic story. Read more
Published on Dec 5 2004 by Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
I am a great Margaret Atwood fan and I love this book
Published on Nov 11 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling, thought-provoking
THE HANDMAID'S TALE is a tale that needs to be read. This one by Atwood is not simply a work of feminism, as some try to portray it. Read more
Published on Sep 26 2004 by Beth Ann Lee
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tale Worth Being Burned
While I was searching for a new book to read, I stumbled across Atwood's new novel, Oryx and Crate. I read the reviews and many people agreed that the Handmaiden's tale was much... Read more
Published on Dec 9 2003 by Valerie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yes im 17 but i am NOT a mindless idiot!
In reply to our dear Derrek, i as many of my other class mates throughly enjoyed the novel, it is rare a book you have to study becomes something you would read yourself, this was... Read more
Published on Nov 27 2003 by beccy
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