I'm starting to really love this author. This story is fascinating to say the the least. How the human mind copes with extreme and horrific circumstances!! Excellent read!!

Very interesting dystopian society written very well, kind of a slow read than a page turner but still makes you question some of today's society norms and promotes discussion

Atwood paints a futuristic world after religious zealots have taken over. It's a first-person narrative of a handmaid -- a woman, like other handmaids, used strictly for the purpose of procreation in all households and where the wife is sterile. The ritualistic scene of fornication is really creepy -- the wife is there watching as her husband swiftly does what he has to do. The handmaid (I don't think we ever learn her real name) lives in a world that affords her no rights, and she must always watch herself, her language, her actions, as not to invite suspicion. In the meantime, she is coping with the loss of her child, who was taken from her upon the designation of her place in the new society, and her husband. A lot of the specific details of the novel escape me now, but even if you're not a fan of science fiction, this book is worth reading if only for the fright at how different things COULD be. Atwood is really into those creepy feminine symbols of old, and biblical references to female roles.

depressing