Set in the near future, in a place that you understand was once the United States, this is a story of a place where women are suppressed, oppressed, repressed and worse. In response to a sharply declining birthrate, this new regime has put into place a system where Handmaids, women who are fertile, are the temporary possessions of high-ranking officials. Handmaids are only valued as long as her ovaries are viable and monthly, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander she's assigned to impregnates her. Offred lives through her days remembering her life before, when she had a husband and a daughter, a job, money of her own, when she was allowed to read; a world that is gone now. She is surviving, but with an eye towards some kind of escape from this place. However, how? And to where?
I have read this book several times over the years and when Hulu started their adaptation of the book, I was pretty excited. Of course, I didn't have Hulu until last week . . . but have now binge watched the first season and started on the second season. One of the things that I love about this book is that while my reactions to it may change a little, depending on when I am reading it and what's going on in my life, the main things in it continue to resonate. The story continues to horrify me --- and indeed, I feel that if elements of this story do not horrify a reader, I would really question what was wrong with them. I may remember some parts of the story and not remember other parts, but I always remember the darkness in this book and how every time I read it, I can see threads of it in real life.
I have my favorite books of Atwood's, and this is one I return to again and again. This time, I wanted to read it, even though I was watching the series and I knew that the adaptation varied from the book. However, the fact that many elements were the same made me want to give it a re-read before I was finished watching the series. Now, I'm telling my husband that he needs to read the book (he's watching the series with me) because I want to talk about it with him. I love that there is wry humor in the story, along with things that are absolutely horrifying. The story, even now, seems so real ---you can imagine some of these things happening, maybe not to the extent that Atwood took them in the book, but certainly, oppression and attitudes about women exist in the real world.
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