from Elizabeth of Yellow Finch Designs
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Who would have thought picking one book to single out as a favorite would be so difficult. As I browsed the bookshelves of our home I found several authors (and books) that could easily be considered a favorite. Wally Lamb, Toni Morrison, Michael Dorris and Cormac McCarthy to name a few. But when it came down to the final decision all I had to do was glance at my nightstand. There rested a copy of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. A book that is worn and creased with crinkled pages and scribbled notes. By far, one of my favorite novels.
The Handmaid's Tale is set in a futurist world that is filled with chaos where women are depicted as property of a society that is ruled by men. It is told through the point of view of a single female character who has been stripped of her identity and classified into a group of women whose purpose in society is to reproduce. The story unravels a tale between her and the Commander that she has been assigned to reproduce with in Gilead, the country where this story takes place. Atwood develops that main character by interspersing flashbacks to a period when she was married and trying to escape tyranny of the county. This novel touches on many subjects of great depth including modern feminism, social rankings, human sexuality and totalitarian rule. Subject matters that can be transported to our current society and debated to this day. If you haven't had the chance to read one of Margret Atwood's several novels, short stories or poems I highly recommend a trip to the library. They will take you on a futuristic adventure that you won't want to miss!
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