The handmaid's tale

4 stars

This was our September book club book. I really enjoyed the book. The writing is different, but it didn’t bother me. The writer starts the book off in the middle of the story and tells it in a series of flashbacks. The writer also builds up to revealing some clues as to why the society is set up the way it is. I can understand some people’s frustration that it takes too long to explain what is going on. But, I can see why the writer did it.

Offred is a Handmaid, a woman whose sole existence is to have sex with the Commander in the hopes that she will get pregnant due to the declining birth rate. Women have no rights and the society is ruled by the bible’s old prophecy. But Offred remembers what it was like “before” and tries to not let herself forget the way life used to be.

I know it’s not a new book, but I recommend you read it.