BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Handmaid's Tale

With terrifying understatement, this novel narrates the life of a college-educated mother ripped from her career and family to be a slave, in a dystopian United States too plausible to be forgotten. Forbidden by a fanatical government to read, choose their own clothes or appear in public alone, handmaids fulfill an awful purpose as the servants of wealthy families. All the while, however, strange new friendships emerge between the powerless and the powerful, as revolution glimmers on the horizon.

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Published Mar 16, 1998

311 pages

Average rating: 7.7

1,629 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The Handmaid’s Tale* is a powerful, chilling dystopian classic warning against the loss of rights and rise of religious totalitarianism. ...

Across the Globe Book Buddies
Oct 19, 2025
2/10 stars
Did. Not. Like!
LVoskan
May 02, 2025
8/10 stars
It is insane that this book was written in 1985.
taylore333
May 21, 2024
5/10 stars
I feel this novel was building up in plot and intensity and then ultimate fell extremely flat. What exactly did I read? It felt like there was nowhere for the plot to go and just kind of ended? I guess that was a cliffhanger, but I don’t feel as though I care to know what happens. The main character was so unlike-able in my opinion, that I don’t care for them or seeing what happens next. The book consisted of some many descriptions of things and not much else. The overall world is so interesting but I don’t think the plot of the protagonist lived up to the intricate and interesting world Atwood created.
njlbo1
Jul 18, 2023
4/10 stars
The books is well-written...I just didn't care much for it. Maybe the whole scenario was just too depressing for me.
Margie Pettersen
Oct 27, 2025
10/10 stars
This dystopian novel is very engrossing and became one of my favorites. It’s a scary look at a futuristic male-dominated world. The treatment of women and the punishments are unbelievable.

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