Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the...

In a dystopic future where a religion-based autocracy rules the country, women are second class citizens and after attempting to escape, June is sentenced to be a handmaid whose role is to bear children for childless government officials.

"Defred recuerda los años previos a la instauración de Gilead, cuando ella era una mujer independiente con empleo, una familia y un nombre propio. Ahora, sus recuerdos y su voluntad de supervivencia se consideran actos de rebelión" -- Page 4 of cover. "In the Republic of Gilead, a Handmaid named Offred lives in the home of the Commander, to the purpose that she become pregnant with his child. Stripped of her most basic freedoms (work, property,...