Title: The Handmaid’s tale

Author: Margaret Atwood

Pages: 412

Dear reader,

Though the title may be familiar to some, the book cover may be less so, since this is copy of an earlier publishing (aside from the fact that it is a German publication). I have seen the book (reprint) before I left South Africa in the book store, but never got around to buy myself a copy, though the back-cover blurb was interesting at the time.

The book is broken down into 47 chapters with last one being an afterword.

The story plays off in America, where a cult have performed a terrorist attack of some kind on the country (by killing the president and the congress) and have seized control of the country (or parts of it). It is not clear during which years the book plays off exactly, but it seems to be between 1970 and early 1990, since some of the memories that the main character talks about are of events / goods that were only available from then onwards. The time it plays off is not material to the story of course.

Back to the beginning, since the cult have taken over control, they have passed multiple reforms which relieve women from doing work and dedicating more time to their “traditional duties”. They, therefore, lose their jobs, their bank accounts are closed and transferred to their husbands / closest male relatives. Furthermore, they are encouraged to grow their families, since the country was experiencing a declining birth rate (either due to rising living cost or due to the availability of birth control). The ruling style of this regime is very draconian, since any transgression is subject to strict physical punishment.

The character, Desfred (the name assigned to her) had lived with her husband and baby and wanted to flee this country. Therefore, they acquired passports and headed to the nearest forest areas, close to the border, where they told the guards that they wanted to have a picnic. They are found out and try to flee, only to be caught soon after. From this point on, she will become a person-of-interest, property of the state, with one and only one purpose: to bear children. She is sent to a camp where she is taught the religious virtues she must adhere by and what her duties will be from now onwards. Then, she is assigned to the household from one of the elite families of the regime, for whom she will become the child carrier, due to the wife’s inability to bear children.

She doesn’t have much to do in the household, but on certain days, the man (known as the commander) of the house, in a ceremonious way, will sleep with her that she may become pregnant.

During the other days, which is what is covered by most chapters, she will walk to the grocery store, accompanied by the baby-carrier from the neighbour. During these walks, they cannot be open in their discussion, but can only talk and speak in phrases they were taught during their religious schooling. The first person she become assigned with is Desglen.

As the weeks pass by, the commander has invited her to his study to play games (scrabble) and have interesting talks, since his wife doesn’t do him the favour of spending time with him. Then, he invites her to accompany him one evening to a secret event. She is given a gown, and make-up and they head towards the city outskirts. There, they enter a hotel and find a room full of women, dress in a fashion before the regime had taken over, and men from the elite levels of the regime. The commander lets her know that even though this is strictly against the regime, some things can never really be suppressed.

Desfred hasn’t managed to become pregnant yet, which is why the commander’s wife approaches her one day and tells her, that she may perform the act with their gardener, since she is now convinced that her husband is the one who is incapable of bearing a child. This way she gets to know Nick, who is part of an organization that tries to help these women that are held against their will in these conditions.

One day, Desfred is informed by a new baby-carrier neighbour, that Desglen was about to be caught out and brought in for questioning, but ended her life instead. Therefore, Nick arranges for her to be taken away, with the help of his network, before the real cult soldiers will come instead.

In the final chapter, we find ourselves in a lecture hall in June 2195, where a professor is giving a research lecture of the time the people lived under this Gilead religious cult. Specifically, he makes most references to a box full of tapes from a woman that lived here and tells her story, how she ended up there. They basically found her tapes, a time capsule, and are not completely capable to reconstruct how life was during these days, since the Gilead cult had made a good effort to erase and eradicate many records of the time.

Summary:

A good book to learn how easily a society can be changed under a totalitarian regime. Though not much action takes place in the book, you can clearly follow how different this way of life is to the western life we have become accustomed to. The people live in constant fear of the state, of being found out for any small transgression and are therefore in constant distrust of the people around them.

The book will receive a rating of 3.9/5.

Link (German): https://amzn.to/3Li9aZo

Link (English): https://amzn.to/3LaO6nu