The Handmaid's Tale

I read “The Handmaid's Tale” in sixth form back in 2001-2002, and at the time it was a bit shocking, particularly one scene fairly early on in the book. One of the novel's key themes is power - who has it and who doesn't, and ultimately what we do with it is the most frightening thing proposed in the novel.

Roll the clock forward fifteen years and now things in the twenty first century have possibly taken a step backwards, with some parts of the first world now putting things into place which clearly remind me of a possible blossoming of Gileadean society.

Every little bit as powerful, shocking and frightening as it was back when it was published in the mid 1980s, “The Handmaid's Tale” is a word of warning to us all.