Human rights that we take for granted can easily be taken away from us

How is it possible that this novel was written in 1985, and yet so little has changed in 15 years, asks Louise O’Neill.

I was 15 when I first read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I still remember the moment my English teacher, Ms Keane, handed it to me in the school library.

“Here,” she said, “I think you’ll enjoy this.”