The Handmaid's Tale

By Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood's popular dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale explores a broad range of issues relating to power, gender and religious politics. Multiple Golden Globe award-winner Claire Danes (Romeo and Juliet, The Hours) gives a stirring performance of this classic in speculative fiction, one of the most powerful and widely read novels of our time.

After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules in hopes of ending this oppression.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anchor
• Release date: Apr 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386747482

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of over fifty books, including fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning television series, her works include Cat’s Eye, short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; The Heart Goes Last; Hag-Seed; The Testaments, which won the Booker Prize and was long-listed for the Giller Prize; and the poetry collection Dearly. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in Great Britain for her services to literature. She lives in Toronto.

Reviews for The Handmaid's Tale

[voodooyeager · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow, simply wow. Even though this was written a few decades earlier, Margaret Atwood' s The Handmaid's Tale is a stark realization that today's future may end up in this fashion. Make sure to read the end notes, where your minds will grasp at anything to make it stop spinning.

[winterdragon-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First of all I want to say this book was amazingly written and I loved it. However, it was kind of creepy how well the ideas in this book apply to what is happening now a days. While it is not one of my favorite books it is still one I would recommend and I think that everyone should read at least once.

[patriciau-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books I should have read a long time ago, but just got around to it. It is, I think, appropriate that I finished this book today, the day that hundreds of thousands of women are marching around the world and in Washington for equality and autonomy. Right now, I want to change all my online profiles and accounts to M.

[keylawk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Atwood's descriptive graces and encompassing vision of a horrific theocratic patriarchy, although published in 1986 seems prescient today. Without naming Putin and his puppets, or modern Russia with its epidemic of crippled sperm and routinized rape, the Biblical wrath against women which ruthless and insecure males so seamlessly wield, is here woven into an imagined society which had lost the ability to reproduce. I loved re-reading this private and intimate journal of a woman prized and imprisoned as a breeder ruled by rank hypocrisies of weak but deadly males. I recommend this book for everyone, but especially for those who think that a tyrant is a "strong" person. The heroine of this great work of literature is a woman reduced to utter dependence and helplessness, whose character is far stronger than the pretenders who claim to be "strong".

[midkid88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I know others love this book, but I had a hard time reading it because I just couldn't really get into it. This book was still an interesting read though, especially reading it in 2017 and with the show coming out. A friend had kind of sum it up and mentioned about the wives situation before I started reading which was a good thing, because I still had a tough time with the hierarchy system they had put into place. I do recommend it to read with the forewarning of it being a story of what I think is a regression of society.

[danielstj · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I thought the story meandered by the halfway mark. I like Atwood, but I don't think this is her best work.Still, an interesting read.

[librarianryan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have never read or seen the Handmaid's tale. I kind of knew what the story was about, not entirely. And now after delving into the graphic novel, i must read the full book, AND watch the show to see if I can get all my questions answered. This is a pretty through book, so I doubt there is much missing from the full page book, but ugggggghhhhhhhhhh. So many holes I must fill.Offred is a handmaid. It is her entire duty to be chattel and carry children for those, in this case the Commander and his wife, who can not have them otherwise. Children are precious, because of war and strife many are infertile, or incapable of bearing healthy children. Lots of things have been outlawed, and woman no longer have lives of their own. They are cast into a system in which they stay until they are used up. High wifes dress in blue, handmaids in read, the help in green, and lesser wifes strips. Woman are not allowed to talk, to ask questions, to hold command. It is a men’s society. Offered is just one of many handmaids, but this is her story. We get brief glances of her life before, and outlay of her life now, and those who came before her, and are left a mystery for her future. This book is evocative. And there are many mysterious holes I want filled in this story. Background for one. What caused this division. There is a page that briefly mentions different religious sects and how they fight against each other. How women changed their bodies, wanted to prevent pregnancy, and how they wanted to live lives that would currently make them un-women.Over all I loved this book, and it has made a desire in me to know more. Thank goodness Atwood is writing a sequel, and hopefully the will make a graphic novel of it as well.

[startwithgivens · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was really into the book and looked forward to reading it every day, but I was not emotionally invested in the characters which is huge for me. I feel like the novel is still timely, but I just couldn't relate.

[the_hibernator · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Offred lives in a dystopic world in which the society she knew fell apart and was replaced by a militaristic, uber-religious, man-controlled culture. She has been taken as a “handmaid” – a new form of the Biblical consort with whom married men of wealth can have children if their own wives can not conceive. (That is, of course, the men believe that the problem of conception is with the woman and not with the man.) When people around her begin to act in ways that the new culture will not abide, she must make a choice of whom to trust.My Thoughts: This is my first Atwood book, and I’m very impressed. Yes, ok, it’s not for people who dislike books that make you uncomfortable. But if you’re in the right mood, this was thoughtful feminist writing full of symbolism. Atwood is a real pro at subtley-but-somehow-harshly making a point. I know, it sounds like making such a point is impossible, but somehow Atwood managed. I am eager to read more of her books.

[rabidgummibear-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I hate the ending of this book. I hate how real portions of it feel and possible.

It's terrifying and almost eye opening in ways. It would happen like this slowly not suddenly and before you know it everything is awful.

Highly recommend the audio version.

[empressreece · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Since I'm practically the last person on the face of this earth to read this book I'm not even going to waste time doing an overview. I've been digesting this book for over two weeks now. I listened to the audio performance and I thought that might've had some effect on my feelings about this book so I went back and actually read parts of the book that I was conflicted about and I still feel the same way.

We were given the story soooooo slowly and piecemealed together based on whatever Offred decided she might or might not throw out there and I felt like I was pulling teeth trying to get the full picture. I seriously felt like I needed to jump to the end of the book to see if I could get a clearer picture of the entire story and then come back and read the beginning.

Then on top of that, there weren't any clear separations in the audio so it was extremely hard for me to tell if Offred was having flashbacks or if those scenes were happening at that moment. Needless to say, I got off to a very rocky start.

It wasn't until over half-way to three-quarters in, that I finally started actually enjoying the book and then - it just ENDED! Omg, I was so freaking mad. I could not believe it. I absolutely hated that ending! Yeah I got the gist that she escaped but I do not like having to infer an ending. It drives me nuts! I like to know 100% that yes, this happened or no, it didn't happen. Not to mention, they never did tell us what happened with her family- or did they and I missed it??

[aurorapaigem-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was really torn between giving this three or four stars. I wanted to give it four because it's a classic, but I decided on three because it made me mad. There are some very harsh themes in this book that are surprisingly realistic. I really felt that the ideas in this dystopian society aren't that far away from some of the current ideas that people are fighting about. A few are a bit extreme, but are just exaggerated versions of the truth.

I want to be mad at our narrator for being so numb and not fighting, but I think I would probably be the same way if I were in her shoes. How can you fight a system that has dressed you up and made you it's breeder?


***spoiler-ish***
The ending of this book is what really makes me mad. They spent the entire novel showing how women are being punished for their sex and when Ofglen finally gets her freedom, we don't get to hear about it. We are thrust into this epilogue from the future. I'm glad it was there to explain some of what happens after the tale, but I wanted to hear these things from her point of view and not some scholar.

[zoes_human · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What I find most compelling about this book is a main character that is neither hero nor anti-hero. Offred is merely a person thrown into a horrifying world who reacts in a most human manner. Her actions are not the the things we dream of daring or the things we fear to do. Rather, they are the almost inconceivably mundane responses that the mind latches onto in a desperate attempt to cling to sanity when circumstances take us to the edge of our tolerance.

[cassiewinters-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book I decided to read because of the Hulu series that just recently came out. It took me awhile to read because of the style of writing (short choppy bits) and also the content hit a little close to home given the current political climate in America. If you can get through these parts of this book this is perhaps one of the best books that you can read. Atwood masterfully makes you feel for the character of Offred. The emotions on the page are universal even if we do not recognize the scenarios the emotions as presented by Atwood are. She makes us remember how it is to feel certain things in life, like lost love or despair. She invokes them onto the page in subtle forms, giving life to the overall story. The ending of the book was a bit jarring, as by the time you reach it you are used to reading in her choppy style only to be presented with something entirely new out of almost nowhere. It does not, however, detract from the story and in many ways adds a new interesting element to consider in this tale. I would recommend it immensely.

[askelmore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

From my Cannonball Read V Review ...

So, you know what’s creepy? Treating women as empty vessels. Vessels whose sole purpose is to become pregnant to continue on a specific race or religious group’s existence. You know what else is creepy? When the ritual surrounding getting those women pregnant involves a handmaid laying on a wives torso while the husband ejaculates inside of her.

Spoiler alert: this isn’t a happy book. It’s not full of hope, it’s not one woman fighting against a horrific, patriarchal society that only values her if she can produce a child. It’s not the Hunger Games, and Offred (the name, so disturbing) is not Katniss. This is a book that details the dullness of the life of the handmaid, that special class of women who were schooled together to become wombs for the elite. These women are not being allowed to read. They must accept being penetrated by the head of the house monthly. They go on daily chores covered head to toe, with literal side blinders on. They eat their meals in their rooms, alone.

When particularly draconian reproductive rights cuts are put into law, you’ll sometimes hear this book mentioned, and with good reason. The book may outline an extreme society, but disturbingly enough, it’s not so extreme as to be unimaginable. I don’t see the U.S. becoming Gilead as it does in the book, but I see the thinking that permeates that fictional society underlying so many of the anti-choice laws being proposed and passed these days. As I type this, the city of Albuquerque is voting on whether some reproductive rights should be taken away from the women who live there.

The writing in this book is heavy, but it didn’t take long to read. I think it’s a good book to read, although I can’t say I enjoyed it. It’s one of those books that is important, and I think should be added to the reading list of anyone who cares about our rights being slowly chipped away.

[wellreadcatlady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Offred is a Handmaid in a dystopian society where women are not allowed to read or hold jobs. Men have a wife, martha's that act like nanny's and maids, and handmaids who have their children and then relocate. Offred remembers the time before life was like this, she had a husband and a daughter, a job and her own banking. The plot goes back and forth between her old life and her new life as a handmaid, she explains how this new society took control and came to be and also how not everyone is a true believer of the new way. I loved this book, it's well written, fast paced and really makes you think. It's also realistic, this could actually happen and that makes it so much more terrifying.

[amaliagavea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

''But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.''

Imagine: You are a woman, and you have no name. Your name has been taken from you. All identity and individuality vanquished. Your name has been replaced by the word Of and the first name of your Master. You are Offred, Ofglen, Ofcharles, you are a nobody, you belong to a man who's not your husband, but someone who uses your body as a vessel for procreation. If you do not provide a child, you are banished to the Colonies, to clear away the toxic mud and die.

This is the harrowing world of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Strongly echoing George Orwell's 1984, we are witnessing the USA after a coup which established a totalitarian government. Who are the ones in power now? The Army? The Church? The two combined? Whoever they are, one of their aims is to turn women into creatures that are no longer considered human beings, but something a little superior to animals.

One of the most dramatic and poignant sequences of the book is a flashback to the day the coup took place.Offred describes the invasion in the Congress, the massacre of its Members and the President's, the day she discovers that her personal bank account has been handed over to her husband, naturally, without notice or explanation. It becomes known that the same has happened to every bank account that belongs to a woman. They have no right to have money, to work or to read.Furthermore, our narrator loses her job because the library is closed down under the threat of the army of the new State. The Constitution of the Unites States of America exists no more. The way in which Atwood describes the aftermath of the coup sent chills down my spine. The raw, but poetic language conveys the new, nightmarish, brutal reality clearly.

The relationship between Offred and her ''owner'', the Commander is a complicated one. It is chilling in the sense that you feel something is about to happen, to change. There is great tension whenever the two characters are together as we share her suspicions and fear. Offred's relationship with Nick, the chauffer, is a dead-ringer for Winston's affair with Julia in 1984 and an additional reason for the reader to feel uncomfortable over Offred's future.

Her only way to escape her reality lies with her mind. Her thoughts and memories of an era of freedom. She isn't brainwashed, just as Winston wasn't brainwashed. The new States with their pious doctrines and the Ministry of Truth have failed to contaminate every single soul. There are some who remember and wish for the civilized world of the past -however problematic-, where women had identity and independence, where love wasn't a crime punished by death.

Offred takes heart only at the thought of her daughter for whom she hasn't lost hope that she is alive.It is the only way to keep her sanity, amidst the violence of her society. There is violence towards the women who are himiliated, punished for transgression and executed, there is violence towards the men who are believed to be members of the Opposition. They are vicioucly killed under false pretenses, in a way that turns the repressed women into beasts.

The Handmaid's Tale is a classic of our times. Is it original? No. After 1984 no dystopian novel can be called ''original'', but unlike Orwell's bleak universe, Atwood allows a brief glimpse of hope, makes us think that all is not lost, that there are some -however few- who can fight against Hell and retain their sanity.

[dknight0918 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was terrifying and amazing. So many things Atwood writes about are still true today. I can't believe that I had never read any of her books before. I look forward to watching the series on Hulu and to reading more of Atwood's books.

[karenvg3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I know this is not the popular opinion, but this one wasn't my favorite. The scattered thought process and the jumping around was very unsettling to me. The overall story was enjoyable and very thought provoking which is keeping this as a so-so and not a pan. Not sure if this was due to listening to this as opposed to actually reading. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[nyxnekhbet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I decided to read this because I've been watching the show on Hulu. The show has definitely gone a different direction than the book, hoping it will have more closure. The plot presents a terrifying prospect, sadly too close to our current reality in someways. I'd like to believe that our Constitution could not be so easily dismantled but it seems that doubts creep in with the current political climate.

[griffin22 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read less than half, couldn’t continue. Depressing and boring, nothing happens. Stilted writing.

[lovinglit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story is of and by a woman. A woman who has had her freedom stolen and replaced with sanctioned sexual servitude. Set in the future, in what was the state of Maine, society has fractured. Religious zealots have taken over and dictated that the recent trend of infertility and deformed births will be rectified by creating the position of 'the Handmaiden'. These rare gems, fertile women, are billeted to powerful men whose wives want a baby. They have ceremonial sex and await impregnation before being moved elsewhere for the same routine. The wider society is heavily stratified and restricted to the point of armed defense and walls. 'The colonies' are where you are sent if you break the rules, and there you die from over work, under nourishment or radiation poisoning. We get all this information drip-fed to us through the life of our hero, the handmaiden. Seeing as she is old enough to remember freedom, she reminisces throughout the story. In this way we are able to get a full picture of life.It is clever, and the information cleverly dispersed. It raises so many issues about personal freedom, government and conflicting ideologies. I am so glad this book finally got to the top of my tbr pile. I hope it gets to the top of yours soon too.

[squeakychu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is horrifying. Offred is a Handmaid to a Commander and his Wife. Offred's role is to produce offspring for this couple in the dystopian Republic of Gilead. She is as much a nonperson as her lack of a name implies. Throughout the entire novel, we learn that she once had a real name, but now only she knows what it was. She is under the control of one couple and the Eyes, who are out to punish anyone guilty of any infraction of the the rules which govern this quasi-religious system.As I read this story of a woman whose whole life is always controlled by others, I wondered what purpose her life had for herself. I found this novel much more frightening than George Orwell's [1984] because it was not only the lack of personal freedom that creeped me out, but it was the misogynistic suppression of most women that reminded me of the real world...and how important it is for women to be free and have rights. It is not lost on me as to how quickly this can be lost. That was one point this novel repeats.There was so much about this novel to hate, but it certainly was neither the writing (which was clear and descriptive) nor was it the character of Offred (whom I wanted to be able to break free from her life of hell). What there was to hate in this book can also be found in our real world: greed, elitism, slavery, misogyny, sexual predation, and so forth. That is what really freaked me out about this book. What if science fiction were, in fact, not fiction at all?

[yas4735-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Handmaid's Tale is a very disturbing view of a future where a sudden change in power renders women's right non-existent, they are considered expendable and any value is relegated to whether they can breed or not. Sex is considered a duty and no emotion is allowed in the act. Fertile women unable to breed are executed or sent to the colonies, where the living conditions are harsh and life expectancy is low.

The protagonist is someone who remembers how things used to be in the past but remains passive throughout the story which I found a little frustrating but understandable considering the indoctrination she'd received and all that she had lost in the transition.

The ending, disappointedly, was open ended which is why I only gave it three stars. I would have liked to know what became of Offred.

I'm not really sure whether I enjoyed this book or not. I found it disturbing on a personal level, probably because such a future is not completely out of the realm of possibility. Because everything women have suffered to secure the most basic rights would be moot in such a society and because the men accepted their roles a little too easily. I don't thing we as human beings will ever achieve enlightenment as long we feel a need to subjugate others. We would lose the ability to feel empathy, compassion, our morality, the very things that make us human.

[abycats_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Startled to realize that I had Not read this book before as it's certainly well know as at the same level as "1984" or "Brave New World." Glad to have finally listened to it in preparation for watching the Hulu limited series.

[valerieandbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said about The Handmaid's Tale. Just that I wish I had read this sooner -- Atwood is a fantastic writer (this is also the first Atwood for me). I don't think this would have appealed to me, or meant as much to me, when this novel first came out in 1985. I was a young college student back then. So, perhaps, now was the right time for me to read this. We see all around us in this world how women's rights are suppressed and/or taken away. Therefore, The Handmaid's Tale is an excellent cautionary tale. And wow, Atwood sure can write! I'm glad to say I have three others of hers in my TBR and I'm sure I'll be on the lookout for more of her backlist. "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum", indeed!!

[sbenne3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could not really get into this read. It is so dated to be a futuristic book - I kept having to remind myself that it didn't take place decades and decades in the past. I also struggled to find empathy for the main character . . . I know she couldn't really control her circumstances, but she seemed a bit weak and helpless - I tired of having to read of her mundane life.

[edensteffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good Book

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. It is thought provoking and a little scary.

[cj82487 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dystopian novel published in 1985 where a totalitarian theocracy, a central governing force ruled by religious principles and doctrines, has overthrown the U.S. government. Society is based on a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible where women's bodies are the property of their fathers until marriage, at which point they become property of their husbands. Their basic human rights are revoked and while set in the future, women's role in society takes a leap back in time. Under the new regime, The Republic of Gilead, women's rights are severly curtailed and a new social heirarchy is enforced. Women are quickly "cut off" and no longer allowed to own property, work and earn wages or read.

Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last.

Offred, literally Of-Fred, is a handmaid in Gilead. Through Offred's perspective and flashbacks, the revolution that resulted in her indoctrination and the newly enforced social hierarchy of Gilead. Her purpose in Gilead is to assist in procreation. Pre-Gilead society witnessed a substantial decline in birth rates due to sterility caused by pollution and an increase in STDs. Because of her fertility, Offred is deemed "desirable" and is not sent to one of the working camps for the "undesireable" women. Offred is assigned to a member of the upper class elite, her third family, Commander Fred and his wife Serena Joy. There, she has no contact with the Commander outside of the monthly "ceremony" where they engage in a sexual intercourse ritual witnessed by Serena Joy intended to result in conception.

This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.

Atwood's work of "speculative fiction" is particularly haunting and thought-provoking is that it offers a realistic scenarios seen before. Nothing included in the novel as not been witnessed within a culture at one point or another throughout time and the social, political and religious trends popular in the 1980s are still prevalent today.The question of "What if" these trends were explored to a logical end is answered in The Handmaid's Tale and the totalitarian regime that "can't" or "won't happen here does. It is no wonder the novel has been adapted to a modern television series.

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.

[begivens · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was really into the book and looked forward to reading it every day, but I was not emotionally invested in the characters which is huge for me. I feel like the novel is still timely, but I just couldn't relate.