SOURCE: “A Feminist ‘1984,’” in Ms., Vol. XIV, No. 8, February, 1986, pp. 24-6.

In the following review, Davidson offers a favorable analysis of The Handmaid's Tale.

I once watched Margaret Atwood try to pass unnoticed through a crowded conference center where she was to be a keynote speaker. Her memorable whirl of curling hair was pulled tightly back into a bun, her collar was up, her head down. The intensity with which she attempted to appear unobtrusive was a dead giveaway. Even in disguise, she looked like someone you should know.

With The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood is again conspicuously incognito. The novel marks a radical departure for the 46-year-old Canadian who has written more than 20 books that have been published in almost as many countries. Arguably her best work yet and unarguably her most controversial, The Handmaid's Tale takes place sometime in the near future, perhaps the nineties, perhaps the...