Handmaid's Tale (Paperback: Anchor Books: 320 pages)

Orwellian Slavery

By Aramink  Oct 6, 2006

Pros: Beautifully written, enthralling story

Cons: None

Imagine a world in which men, and never women, hold all of the power, all of the decision-making authority. Imagine that women are wives without power, servants, concubines, and are not allowed to speak to one another, ever. This isn't the Stepf...ord Wives. It's even more evil and insidious. Our heroine has a name, but it changes depending upon which man has use of her body. She is a Handmaid, which is essentially a sex slave. Women in her time do not become pregnant easily, and since before the new order took over she had a child, she is considered fertile. Once a month she suffers the attentions of the man of her house, while his wife looks on in condescending disgust. If she becomes pregnant she will be elevated to a position of respect, even though her child will be taken away from her. Her other child was taken away, maybe even killed. She believes the husband she loves was killed. She believes she will be killed if she resists, or if she fails to conceive. Even the master of her household, a high ranking official, does not follow the harash rules strictly. He would be subject to prosecution if those in power knew of his illicit Scrabble games with his Handmaid. He takes the Handmaid to what would appear to be a BDSM 'munch' where she makes valuable contacts with an underground women's movement, unknown to her master. Before this government, they were allowed to be educated, to move about freely, to marry the men they loved, to think. Now they are objects, and nothing more. The women manage to speak in hushed voices, daring to hope that their world can somehow be returned to them. Will a rebellion be successful? Will it even be possible? Margargaret Atwood's incredible imagination and range is evident in this dark novel. The most terrifying part of the whole story is that one can imagine it actually happening. Read more Less