It’s been a very long time since a show was released that was so unique that it captured the attention of so many people and started so many conversations as “The Handmaid’s Tale” has. I never read the book, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the series but if there’s only one show you watch this summer, let it be this one.
Based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood of the same name, the series takes place in the dystopian Republic of Gilead in the near future. No woman is truly safe here, in fact, most are treated disgustingly and have no rights. They are not allowed to read, work, own property or have money by the fundamentalist Christians who were successful in overthrowing the American government.
Due to mass infertility, fertile women have been gathered and trained to become handmaids. They are assigned homes where they will submit to monthly rapes by the powerful male of the house who was unable to impregnate his wife. Their duty is to become pregnant with his child then hand it over to the couple to be raised as their own.
The main protagonist and the voice of the series is Offred, played by “Mad Men” star Elisabeth Moss. She’s assigned to live with Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) and bare their child. We learn early on that Offred, whose real name is June, was married and had a daughter before being subjected to a life of sexual enslavement.
I’m nearly done watching the 10 episode series and I can’t wait to read the book right after to compare notes. But what happens after I’m done? Thanks to this popular series, there’s so much attention being paid to dystopian novels. You never know, you could be reading the next big story to be adapted to TV or movies.
The Handmaid’s Tale: 3 Books to Read After Watching the Series
Here’s a list of suggested dystopian novels to read that are similar to “The Maiden’s Tale.”
#1. American War by Omar El Akkad
In El Akkad’s debut novel we’ll meet Louisiana born Sarat Chestnut who is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be.
Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.
#2. The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
A rogue virus that kills pregnant women has been let loose in the world, and nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake. Some blame the scientists, others see the hand of God, and still others claim that human arrogance and destructiveness are reaping the punishment they deserve.
Jessie Lamb is an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl living in extraordinary times. As her world collapses, her idealism and courage drive her toward the ultimate act of heroism. She wants her life to make a difference. But is Jessie heroic? Or is she, as her scientist father fears, impressionable, innocent, and incapable of understanding where her actions will lead?
#3. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.
