While at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, Mother and I took full advantage of the boys being happily cared for in the kids clubs and devoured a few books!  I started – and finished – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Official synopsis:

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.

Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now….

Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and literary tour de force.

Okay, so it was unexpected, horrifying and convincing but I didn’t find it funny at all.  That makes it sound like I hated it, and that’s not quite true.  Rather, I couldn’t stop reading it.  The book is dark and dystopian in genre and, while I usually like that type of book, this one made me sad and angry.  I think part of it is that I am just older now and I can see some major chinks in the armor of society.  But most of it was just how terribly sad life ended up for women.  I wouldn’t read it again, but I will watch the series!

I have already started The Other Boleyn Girl, after having had it on my list for years.  I would love to know what is on YOUR bedside these days!

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