Read this when
The Handmaid's Tale
They took her name, her job, her daughter. They couldn't take the voice in her head. 'Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.' ✊
Who it's for
Offred, stripped of her name, job, money, husband and daughter, is assigned to bear children for a Commander in the theocratic Republic of Gilead.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic state that has overthrown the United States government in a near-future New England. Widespread infertility makes fertile women valuable. Offred is a Handmaid assigned to bear children for a Commander and his wife, Serena Joy.
Where to find it
In print; widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Still in copyright, so not on Project Gutenberg.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicide and ritualized rape.
Age: Ages 16+
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
