"The Handmaid's Tale" (review)

...by Margaret Atwood.

This felt like a feminine version of 1984 (Orwell).
The future....not characterised by any major technological advances - in fact, it feels like technology, and certainly reading/literacy/literature have been deliberately done away with by the New Order.
We experience the future society through the eyes and indeed body of Offred (because she's a handmaid, we never learn her real name - her Man is Fred, hence Offred being her name/designation).
Women have been given several distinct roles in the new society - Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, Aunties or Unwomen.
Due to general chemical/genetic/nuclear deterioration, only wives or handmaids are in positions to give birth - in fact, this is the sole function of a handmaid.

As Orwell does in 1984, Atwood creates a claustrophobic atmosphere of tension and paranoia, given emphasis by Offred's flashbacks to the Time Before.
Offred finds herself not knowing who to trust, till in the end she makes some decisions with a kind of resigned courage or carelessness, leading to a dramatic conclusion.
Typically of Atwood (as I'm discovering through an intensive read through of other novels), relationships are explored fully - the power play between the Handmaid and the Wife who "owns" her makes for a fascinating study.
The structure of the novel is unique - the flashbacks merge smoothly with the "present day" narrative, and both build to a climax; in particular, the passage in which the nature of the "revolution" is related sends a chill of recognition and fear down the reader's spine.
There is also the transcript of a lecture given about the authenticity and identity of the tale itself, set yet several decades beyond the tale - terrific!

Sound complicated?
It isn't - the style is sharp, light, beautiful and captivating.

Once hooked, you won't escape.