“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.”

This book has been in the media a lot recently because of a new adaptation coming soon to television (or is it out already? I’m usually a few months behind when it comes to tv…). I read it recently and have struggled to shake the uncomfortable feeling I’ve had ever since.

We follow a handmaid in what, initially, seems to be some kind of historical, alternate universe. Her life is one dimensional and difficult to understand. It is only as we move further through the story and begin to receive flashbacks that the true horror is revealed – this is not a historical story at all, this is the future. And worse; people chose the societal structure that our handmaid is now living in. I won’t tell you why her life is so terrible- you’ll have to read the book to find out – but it truly is unsettling.

As I read the book only recently, I couldn’t help but draw similarities between the flashback society and our own. Divisiveness and nationalism are strong themes, and it is so easy to imagine a country slipping, almost without warning, into the awful situation our handmaid’s country is in.

I can’t say I enjoyed every moment of reading the book – it is too disquieting for that – but it is one that I strongly believe everyone should read, to remember the responsibilities we have.

8/10

 The Handmaid’s Tale (Contemporary Classics)