The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

A chilling work of dystopian (or, from the author herself: "speculative") fiction, this novel is about a near-future where tyrannical "Christian" powers have seized total control of the US and enforced a society where women have been placed into overtly subjucated roles. They are the Wives, the Aunt enforcers, the servant Marthas, the enslaved and tortured Un-women... and, of course, the Handmaids - whose entire roles are to bear children for a number of powerful men, in as silent and "pure" and subservient fashion as possible. The book is told from the perspective of an unwilling Handmaid, and unravels through her recorded diaries to reveal glimpses from her life before as a woman (and wife) in love, mother, and library employee - to a life spent in a uniform of deep red, allowed no friendships, voice or heart.
posted by julie at September 21, 2006 09:59 PM