After I started watching the Hulu series based on this book, I realized I never read the book. And woah, is this powerful.

This is a near future in which the Republic of Gilead rules in an extreme fashion that does not give any power to women. Women are given their “jobs” but unable to have jobs or money, and are punished for reading.

The tale is told by Offred – of Fred – and her role as a Handmaid is to hope that each month the Commander can impregnate her during the impersonal Ceremony. Offred remembers a life before the Gilead ways and wants to get out in any way that doesn’t result in her death.