The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood | Book Review 2018

'The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one option: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like all dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs'. 

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood // I love sharing my thoughts about books with you all, and especially books that I really enjoyed. I must admit, I had never heard of Margaret Atwood or The Handmaids Tale before I read about the new Channel 4 show starring Elizabeth Moss. I decided that I'd rather read the book first, and after picking up a copy in my local charity shop for £1, I got reading. Well, I must admit - I actually started listening to this story as an audiobook on YouTube. I needed something to listen to whilst doing some admin work, and although I had this book sitting on the shelf beside me, I decided to give it a listen. 

After enjoying the first couple of chapters online, I decided to pick up where I left off with the book. I really enjoyed this story and would give it four stars out of five. It has been written in an unusual way - sometimes it's hard to distinguish between narrator and main characters - but I actually began to like the style of writing, it's conversational, like a personal diary, and you are completely transported to this spooky, dystopian world. 

The story focuses on the heroine, Offred, who is a 'handmaiden' in this futuristic world created by Ms. Atwood. As a handmaiden, Offred's sole purpose is to produce a baby for the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Once she has served her purpose, she will be reassigned to another high-ranking man for the same purpose. This pattern will repeat over and over, until she is no longer able to bear children. What happens then, nobody really wants to talk about. Worse yet, if she fails to produce a child then she will face a fate reserved for the lowliest of women. This is the world that Offred and others are left with after a brutal civil war stamped out the rights that citizens like Offred had taken for granted.

The story  can be slow at times but picks up great speed towards the end. Annoyingly, it also ends abruptly, leaving the reader to imagine and guess the fate of our main character...

Have you read this book? What do you think happens to Offred in the end? Let me know your thoughts below!

More soon,

Helen

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