The Handmaid's Tale has been on my to-read list for years, so when I saw it at the library as a graphic novel, I jumped at the chance to read it. As only my second foray into the graphic novel format, I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I found was a full-bodied story, with suspense and horror as well as resignation.We get a glimpse of the narrator's previous life as a student and later as a wife and young mother before the war. Rebellions continue to pop up here and there, although it's hard to know how effective the rebellion is since the televised news airs only what the government of Gilead wants the people to see. The ease with which the government suspended the Constitution is frightening, as are the regulations which forced women out of the workforce and made it illegal for them to handle money practically overnight. The narrator, who's now a handmaid, has lost all the people she cares about, and is strictly regulated in everything that she does. She lives in the household of "The Commander," where she's expected to bear a child for him, just as other handmaids are expected to do for their masters. Weirdly, sex occurs with the wife present, and if a child is conceived and born from this handmaid, the wife is brought in near the end of labor, so that she may collect and name "her" child.
The artwork is good and the story flows. However, now I need to read the original Margaret Atwood novel, to see if I've missed anything...
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