Saturday Samplers Book Group to Discuss "The Handmaid's Tale"

Bernardsville Library’s book group, Saturday Samplers, will meet on Saturday, June 2 at 11:00 am to discuss "The Handmaid's Tale" (1985) by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.

"The Handmaid's Tale" is a fable set in the near future in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of The New York Times wrote that the book is, "among other things…a political tract deploring nuclear energy, environmental waste and antifeminist attitudes...[as well as] a taut thriller, a psychological study and a play on words."

The book was a bestseller and won the 1985 Governor General's Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. "The Handmaid's Tale" has been adapted into a 1990 film, a 2000 opera, a television series in 2017, and other media.

Saturday Samplers is a book discussion group dedicated to sampling various kinds of literature, including short stories, nonfiction, new and old novels, and teen fiction. Its goal is to search out interesting, noteworthy, and sometimes overlooked literary and narrative works. No sign-up is needed to join the discussion. Call the library at 766-0118 for more information.