Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead.
Her only function is to breed - to supply babies for the families of the elite, where the wives are not able, as laid down in the Bible story of Rachel and Leah.
Babies are a commodity in Gilead, now so few are able to reproduce, and Offred's existence relies on her ability to fulfill her function.
Offred must not deviate from the strict rules of conduct laid down for her, or she will be hanged at the Wall, or sent to the colonies to die slowly of radiation sickness - like dissenters. Prying eyes are all around her and she must be careful who she trusts.
But Offred remembers the days before the Republic of Gilead, when women had freedom and were allowed to feel desire - when she had a husband and child of her own. How can Offred bear to live the life she must now endure to ensure her own survival? Is there still hope? Can she ever escape Gilead?
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There can be few people in the western world who are not aware of this book. It has become a modern classic, since its publication in 1985, and remains Margaret Atwood's best known work for a reason.
When I first read this book, many years ago, I found it to be pretty stark and I was frustrated that you are still unsure of Offred's fate when you get to the end of the book. But, with the publication of the new sequel, The Testaments, it was about time for me to re-read and I am very glad that I have.
Coming back to this book as a woman of fifty-two, as a wife and mother, and at this present time in history is somewhat of a revelation. There is a lot to think about in this book, with the main focus being the way women's rights can be stripped away. However, there is also a lot about how the loss of intimacy, the oppression of desire, can affect the human psyche.
Atwood herself has made it clear that she was using the past as inspiration for The Handmaid's Tale, rather than predicting a dystopian future, but this book is so pertinent for modern times that you can't help but feel the relevance of the story today. Just look across the water to the USA for example, where women's rights are being stripped away by the male lawmakers in the Southern states, under the pretext of abiding with religious strictures about the sanctity of life. This is not about religion, this is about ignorance and power - the subjection of women. How Gilead can you get? How can you fail to be chilled by this?
It is not my intention to go into a long and rambling treatise here about how brilliant The Handmaid's Tale is, but rather to point out that its message has such relevance today that it should be required reading for anyone concerned about how times are changing.
It worries me greatly when I see comments, especially from other women, that they have been unable to read this book, have found it boring, or will not read it because of the hype surrounding it.
Unreadable? Not for me, certainly, I raced through the pages and Atwood is a fantastic writer.
Boring? The stripping away of the rights of women and subjecting them to forced reproduction? Living under the strict guidelines of martial law? Hardly!
Full of Hype? This is always a difficult one, and probably the reason I can sympathise with the most - not all hyped books are good. However, although this is a much lauded book, in my mind, the brilliant reviews and the longevity of its popularity are all justified in this case.
This book is eye-opening and its message clear. The danger signals are already here and we need to be especially careful that the freedoms earned by the hard-fought battles of the feminist movement are not eroded in the name of "protection". Such changes are insidious and may lead to dark times ahead....
Nolite te bastarde carborundorum
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