After a theocratic revolution, disguised as a terrorist attack, kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules in hopes of ending this oppression.

Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale explores a broad range of issues relating to power, gender, and religious politics, and has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time.