Now a Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. The Handmaid's Tale is an
instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from "the
patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (New York Times)
The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be
unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it
describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the
Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest
and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the
repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the
Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for
the women and men in its population.
The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate
Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose,
by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals
to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as
certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical
conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and
altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and
a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.
