I cannot remember the last time I have been so thoroughly blown away by a novel. No joke.
The Handmaid's Tale takes place in the near future in which the country as taken a HUGE turn and now abides by a very strict caste system. The story is told from the POV of a handmaid. A handmaid is a woman whose sole purpose is to for reproduction for infertile married couples. The book has a very definite 1984 feel, but where I feel The Handmaid's Tale thoroughly exceeds is that throughout the story we are not only told the way things are, but also the way things were, and how they changed so drastically, so quickly.
Handmaids came to be when all second marriages (among other "fallen women") became "invalid" in the eyes of the government. Hence women who may have been second wives to men were shipped off to infertile couples and submitted to a supposedly "religious" sexual slavery.
There was something very frightening about this book in that it truly shows how fast our freedom can be taken from us if the right radicals come to power. It's amazing how the events of this book took women's rights back hundreds of years (and then some) in the course of only a few years.
I can honestly say that I have no complaints about this book, no little suggestions, no little tweaks. Perfect, as is.
A+
*Entertainment Weekly's: The New Classics
*Booker Prize
*The Strand 80
*Nebula Award
*Random House 100 Best
*Arthur C. Clarke Award
*Top 100 Most Frequently Banned Books
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