Margaret Atwood’s classic novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, has been adapted many times, including film, television, and opera, and this recent graphic novel by Renée Nault. Though initially published in 1986, this speculative dystopian novel has unsettling themes that ring true still today.
The story of an oppressed woman under an authoritarian religious government somehow makes for beautiful illustrations; mainly black, white, and red but offset with rich colors that still exist in this colorless world. The condensed adaptation of Atwood’s words is no less powerful than the original, and parts are even more striking for their simplicity paired with chilling visuals. A wonderful way to revisit a classic, or, if you have found it too daunting in the past, read it for the first time.
