Achebe, Chinua.
Things Fall Apart
: This fiction novel tells the story of Okonkwo, an African who must make his own way in the world without relying on family. He has multiple wives and they must find ways to live peacefully together. Changing social norms and multiple wives may be of interest to students.
Atiya, Nayra
Khul Khall: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories
. These autobiographies are modern, and the simplicity and honesty with which they are told is quite effective. You may be appaled by the harshness of life for many Egyptian women, yet their spirits are very strong.
Buck, Pearl S.
The Good Earth
. There is plenty to think about in terms of the way women are treated, particularly in the face of sweeping social changes. The book has a lot to suggest about wealth and privilege, which are important in
The Handmaid’s Tale
.
Golden, Arthur.
Memoirs of a Geisha
. Students will be interested in the life of a woman trained to entertain and to be an ornament. Offred makes the point of saying that Handmaids are not to be confused with geisha, and Golden’s book tells the story of a geisha whose life may be compared to Offred’s.
Hardy, Thomas
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
. I’d like to re-read this one, just for the simple pleasure of it as well as to make connections between this and
The Handmaid’s Tale
. It’s been awhile since I’ve read
Tess
, but I think we can compare the Commander’s preachy hypocrisy and sexual indulgence to the seduction of Tess by rascally Alec d’Urberville. Both provide a contrast to the self-denial and pious religious devotion of Angel, Tess’s husband.
Hurston, Zora Neale.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
. Students will be able to discuss male oppression and female rebellion in both books. Additionally, part of Janie’s story takes place in an all-black community, connecting the idea of racial segregation in the Republic of Gilead.
Lawrence, D.H.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
. I think the issue of female sexuality --and the attempted oppression of it -- may provide some room for comparison, in addition to the the environmental/industrial issues.
Lewis, Sinclair.
It Can’t Happen Here
. This book suggests a willingness by an uninformed public to support a fascist government. The consequences may be worse than they had bargained for, which is also true in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Lidz, Theodore, and Ruth W. Lidz.
Oedipus in the Stone Age: A Psychoanalytic Study of Masculination in Papua New Guinea
. This is an interesting read, partly because the Papua have some very interesting initiation ceremonies into adulthood. The connections made may be more about the relationship of young men to old, and how older men try to increase power by denying the young. The Commanders severely limit the freedoms and privilege of subordinate males in
The Handmaid’s Tale
.
McCourt, Frank.
Angela’s Ashes.
Students who would like to think about an Econowife’s life may be interested in reading about Angela’s. She is too often at the mercy of her alcoholic husband’s disease, and holds little power to improve her own life or the lives of her children.
Morrison, Toni.
Beloved
. This book is packed full of ideas that connect to just about anything, but one idea to toss up against
The Handmaid’s Tale
would be the way men treat women they own. While Sethe is openly called a slave, Offred is not, though her the element of choice provided to her is minimal. The rights and parentage of children is another issue that may be explored as well.
Mosher, Steven W.
A Mother’s Ordeal: China’s One-Child Policy
. This book chronicles the tribulations of a mother trying to raise her family during Mao Zedong’s efforts to create the New China. The adjustments citizens have to make are similar to those in the Republic of Gilead, plus there is an interesting passage that discusses why girl babies are thought to be inferior to boy babies, and not even worth naming, according to one grandmother.
Oates, Joyce Carol.
We Were the Mulvaneys
. Students who are interested in the effect of a daughter’s chastity on a modern family will be interested to read this book, where the rape of a daughter results in her receiving little comfort and in the rest of the family falling apart.
Spence, Jonathan.
The Death of Woman Wang
. It’s about government, the role of women, marriage and how families lived, so comparisons may be made to the new society that the Republic of Gilead is attempting to build, which has a number of things in common with Woman Wang’s culture.
Woolf, Virginia.
A Room of One’s Own
. Readers who would like a stream-of-consciousness essay on the rights and roles of women will find fertile ground in this book, with particular passages being very interesting to compare to
The Handmaid’s Tale
.