In case you couldn't tell from how quickly this post came after my next one, this book was an amazingly easy read, and an absolutely fabulous novel! It takes us to a time that never happened, or at least that has not yet happened. We meet the narrator, who we never know as any name other than Offred. (Of Fred - showing she is under the possession of Fred). She, as all the women of the time, has been stripped of all her rights. She is not allowed to read, write, speak unless spoken to, or even look another person in the eye. Her job in life is to bear children. Once a month her Commander engages in the act of procreation with her, in hopes that she will become pregnant. The reason she is given this job is because the Commander's wife is old, and therefore infertile. There is no love involved in the act, it is purely for children.
Everyone has a job. Even if it is just to be a rich wife, everyone has a job. Every job has a title, and every title has a color of clothing, a robe to be exact. Not much diversity in clothing. (At least, for the women). Red is the color of the Handmaids, the position of our main character. Wives wear blue, and Aunts (the 'police' force of the women) wear brown. There is also the job of the Marthas, maids and cooks, but it isn't ever sure what color they wear.
In this new world, money is obsolete. It does not exist because it does not matter. They have a type of food stamp, a type of coupon, known as tokens. Each one can buy the picture that it depicts, eggs, steak, milk. Women are not allowed to read, but they still do the chores, so tokens, as well as shops, are represented by pictures. No words are used anywhere in the system. They walk everywhere. This is one of their freedoms, they can wander wherever they may choose, as long as it is within their preset limits.
Offred used to be married. She had a happy family, a husband and a daughter, and they lived in the city of Boston. Until the terrorist attack. The book doesn't go into too much detail, and I do not want to give away the detail that it does give away (since everyone must read this book), but after that, it all went down hill. In the same day women are stripped of their rights to their money and their rights to work. These two occurrences make them possessions of their husbands. Marriages and families are broken up. Women are divided into their proper positions. That is, those who are not killed for their sin.
Our main character remembers life before the change. She often reminisces of it. No one ever saw it coming. It is a story of pain and suffering, but also of optimism and love. It is of finding joy in even the meekest of situations. It is of remembering, but moving on. It is similar to George Orwell's 1984, and yet it is completely different. There are so many indescribable aspects of this book.
In case you couldn't guess, I give this book FIVE STARS OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE! Really, you MUST read this book! It is amazing! It makes you wonder, it makes you grateful, and it makes you humble. There is minimal swearing, and no explicit sex scenes, though a few times where the act is implied. Really - read this book. It is an easy read, with lots of possible breaks, though you won't want to put it down!
Reading Next:: Hard Times, by Charles Dickens
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