Available on Paperback

Last month, I dragged all the books out of a closet just so I could find one paperback — The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

I had purchased the novel just a few weeks after the first season of the Hulu series ended in 2017. To precise, I stumbled upon two paperback copies at a thrift store and I picked out the better of the two. Like many of the books I buy, this paperback got put away in the closet and I'd forgotten about owning it until after I started watching the web series on DVD.

The Handmaid's Tale was originally published in 1985. It's set in an all-too-real dystopian world, where a religious cult has overthrown the United States government by murdering the President and all of Congress. America is now known as the Republic of Gilead. After the fall, American citizens headed for Canada. Many were able to cross the border in peace. However, others never made it, especially fertile women.

The rights of women were eliminated. They were no longer allowed to read, own property, and handle finances. Fertile women (Handmaids) were forced into slavery. A Handmaid is sent to the home of a Commander and once a month she will participate in "The Ceremony" where the Commander's wife would hold her down while the Commander is raping her. "The Ceremony" would keep occurring until the Handmaid becomes pregnant. Shortly after giving birth, the Handmaid would leave the household (and her baby) and be sent to live in another Commander's home. A Handmaid takes the first name of her Commander with an added "Of" in front of it, which represents possession.

The novel is told from the point-of-view of Offred, a Handmaid who's ordered to visit her Commander's office (or chambers) alone late at night, which is against the rules. At first the situation seems to be harmless with the Commander only wanting to play a game of Scrabble. However, things quickly change when the Commander gives Offred a fancy dress and smuggles her into the city, which is unknown to his wife, Serena Joy.

Serena Joy is a former televangelist who is one of the many women who cannot have children in this world. Desperate to become a mother, and suspecting The Commander is sterile, Serena Joy comes up with a dangerous plan to help Offred become pregnant.

Offred was once the wife of Luke and they had a daughter. She believes Luke is either dead or imprisoned. As for their daughter, she was taken captive and given away to be raised by a new family. 

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