The Book The Handmaid's Tale Is Not for Everyone

Well, that could be said of every book. But this one, in particular, as I started reading it, made me very uncomfortable. The reason: It's about oppressed women. I describe it as a combination of Nazism meets the Taliban meets Communism meets Animal Farm. Scary.

I could never live like that. I'm a strong, independent woman and I don't like having barriers put in front of me. Don't tell me I can't. Don't tell me women don't. Don't make me subservient. That just makes me want to do it more. I want to be in control of my own life. 

One day when I was 10 I couldn't find any kids to play with. There were some boys playing football with one of the dads and I was bored so I asked if I could play. The dad said, "Girls don't play football." I never got over it, lol. I still have a chip on my shoulder about that incident, five decades later. 

So imagine when I started reading The Handmaid's Tale and discovered all the things women couldn't do. I was thinking, oh no. I can't read this. This would just make me angry. And it did. But it also hooked me, because I needed to learn what happened next, and next, and next. 

Then in the end, the author, Margaret Atwood, left such a cliffhanger that she gave me no choice but to go out and buy the sequel, The Testaments. Because I had to read what happens next. Imagine a book so good that it makes you read about something you don't like. This was that book. But clearly it has hooked a lot of people because it's a New York Times best seller and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner (back in 1986; yep, it's that old). And, as you probably know, it was made into a Hulu series. So clearly it hits home for a lot of readers and watchers. 

Would I recommend it to women? Yes. You may not like what it's about, but it's a hell of a good read.

Check out my women's fiction novels @ lynnellenrusso.com.