I got the box set and finished the first novel， The Handmaid's Tale today。 I shall start with the 2nd book， The Testaments， now。 The first novel， written around 1985， was satisfactory。 I am a bit disappointed， was hoping for more， but it is not easy to write a good dystopian novel; and overall the lecture was easy and the story catchy enough。 Offred - the main character - is a handmaid in the dystopian society of Gilead。 She used to be a working woman in the old World， a mother and a wife。 But t I got the box set and finished the first novel， The Handmaid's Tale today。 I shall start with the 2nd book， The Testaments， now。 The first novel， written around 1985， was satisfactory。 I am a bit disappointed， was hoping for more， but it is not easy to write a good dystopian novel; and overall the lecture was easy and the story catchy enough。 Offred - the main character - is a handmaid in the dystopian society of Gilead。 She used to be a working woman in the old World， a mother and a wife。 But that old life she is having difficulty at times trying to remember， brain washed and stressed out in the new Order。 Her mission is to procreate， to give birth to healthy babies （if possible）。 Gilead is a society with low natality and an aging， and depleted， population。 Wars， purges， toxins in the ecosystem and other causes forced the despotic regime to take action。 The women in the society are second class citizens who still have first class missions。 There are the Handmaids， who lend their bodies to the powerful Commanders （leaders of the Republic - those who have no children）。 It's not their will， but they have to do it （to avoid being sent to the colonies）。 This group is The Reds。Their bosses， the Wives （who could not provide their spouses with the coveted babies） are allowed to beat them but cannot kill them。 The Wives （dressed in blue） are a privileged class of their own， as companions of the Commanders。 There are also The Econowives， striped red， blue and green dresses， the women of poorer men， who can not afford Marthas and have to do everything themselves。 Speaking of， we got the Marthas， elder women who work in the affluent household， doing the daily chores。 This group of house servants considers itself lucky， since most of the elders end up digging into radioactive garbage in the Colonies， with poor food and a 3 to 5 years life expectancy。 Finally， we got the group of Aunts， doctrine teachers responsible with the brainwashing of their charges， The Handmaids。 These half gurus half guardians take the young women of the old USA and transform them into passive and cooperating bodies。 All is kept simple， handmaids don't need to read or write， or to think much about anything other than getting pregnant。 The Aunts too， just like the Wives， are the canary in a golden cage。 Maybe powerful towards the girls， but lacking any power in the society。 Every woman is a body， an asset with a clear job/mission。 The plot is fairly straightforward。 Offred （potentially June in her previous life） is captured while trying to exit Gilead， at the border with Canada。 She didn't know what happened to her husband Luke and her daughter， but later in the novel she's shown a picture of her daughter， she appears to be alive and grown up。 In exchange for living within the mainstream society， she has to accept to become a Handmaid， a body for rent， a surrogate mother。 She is assigned to two households， after the proper training and brainwashing， but she does not get pregnant。 The novel starts with her into her third （final） rotation， at the house of Commander Fred Waterford （hence her name， Offred - play on words 。。。。 Handmaids don't have full names， but rather just one name indicating to whom they belong）。Offred ends up running away， in a staged exit from the Commander's household that is orchestrated by her clandestine lover， Nick （also the Commander's personal driver/front man）。 As everyone is obsessed with babies in Gilead， we are allowed to believe that Nick acted on behalf of a potential pregnancy （Offred mentioned this possibility to him one night）。The Handmaid's Tale is one of the major Atwood novels。 It won the GG Award for fiction in 1985， the Arthur C。 Clarke Award （SF） in 1987 and the Commonwealth Literature Prize; and was nominated for the Booker Prize and the Nebula Award （both in 1986）。 Atwood herself， for her entire body of work， won the PEN Lifetime Achievement Award and several other lifetime recognition awards。 Looking forward to read the sequel， The Testaments， which Atwood wrote way later， in 2019。 。。。more