Before reading this book, I had heard so much about it. It had a wildly successful TV series, and I had heard that its thoughts around women's rights and fascism had many connections to the political climate of 2025. It has also been banned in several US school libraries for being morally corrupt, which stirs some interest. However, although it is a great book, I found myself not overly Atwood's style of writing, which sadly caused this to fall slightly short of my high expectations.

The story takes place in the near future after a violent coup converts the US into Gilead, a fascist theocratic dictatorship. In Gilead, women have been stripped of almost all of their rights, not being allowed to read, write, work, and so on. Fertile women are to a large extent used as Handmaids, which are used as surrogates for the prestigious (male) Commanders. Other women serve mainly as Aunts, cruel guard-like roles who indoctrinate new Handmaids, or Marthas, essentially kitchen slaves, or token Wives to the Commanders.

The story follows the Handmaid Offred, whose name is due to being in her Commander Fred's household. Through flashbacks we get to follow her story, from having a young daughter, husband, friends, and mother before the coup, to then being captured and forced into becoming a Handmaid. We get to follow her daily life, and see how total lack of purpose or freedom, except trying to create a baby, drives her rather mad.

My personal issue with the writing is probably to do with how Atwood writes. It is quite slow, spending a lot of time describing the surroundings, such as doors, closets, ceilings, and so on. This style might be enjoyable to many, but I found it a bit too laborious at times. However, at times it is very good at painting a nice picture of the environment Offred lives in, immersing the reader. Additionally, it does create a powerful contrast to the horrendous actions happening around Offred.

Setting the writing style aside, the setting is absolutely stunning, and is as relevant as ever today. Atwood has clearly put some thought into how such a fascist theocracy would be run efficiently, for example by pitting the women against each other at every possibility. Furthermore, I thoroughly enjoyed that we only get to see this world from Offred's limited eyes. In this way, we got to see just enough of the world, while leaving just enough up to the readers imagination. Finally, without spoiling anything, I think the ending was equally as chilling as the remainder of the book, and a great way to call out other sets of people.

Even though a bit dry at times, The Handmaid's Tale is a chilling speculative work, largely about fascism. It's main theme is probably women's rights, but also covers many parts, and makes one wonder what truly makes people happy. I would recommend this to most people today, especially if you are okay with it being a bit slow at times.