A fierce, provocative, disconcerting, prophetic work, The Scarlet Handmaid, world bestseller by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, has been adapted into a graphic novel by the talented Canadian illustrator Renee Nault. The stunning result reflects the ideas transmitted by the author in this cult novel, and gives a new dimension to the work. Renee Nault devoted several years to it, immersing herself day after day in the complex and destabilizing universe of Defred and her colleagues.

In The Scarlet Handmaid, Margaret Atwood shows what happens to women in the Republic of Gilead, an imaginary land that is nonetheless close to us. A red-clad woman, forced to be modest, is a scarlet handmaiden. She lost her life before and everything was taken from her, even her name.

Once a woman free of her choices, her ideas and her actions, she is reduced to the rank of a sex slave. She was assigned to the family of the commander and his wife and, in accordance with the new social order, she must put her body at their service. Defred and all her sisters, at a time when births are falling sharply, have an interest in being fertile.

While describing the dreadful world she lives in, Alfred reminisces about the world before, when she was an independent woman, had a job, a family and a name.

Renee Nault, in a telephone interview from her home in Victoria, reveals how immersing herself in the universe of The Scarlet Handmaid has been both demanding, but rewarding.

“Margaret has always loved comics and I think she wanted to do a graphic adaptation of The Handmaiden Scarlet for a long time. Her publisher in Canada knew of my work as an illustrator and they asked me to submit illustrations. They really liked what I sent. And we made the book! »

Nault explains that she had read The Handmaiden Scarlet when she was in high school, and the imagery that emanated from it stuck with her. “I am very visual. The iconic nature of the novel, the symbolism, the events it describes are forever etched in my memory. »

She did not watch the television adaptation, since the graphic adaptation project of the novel was initiated long before the television series was broadcast. “This is a project that took so much time! I started the book before the TV series aired and finished it after the first season aired. »

Questioning oneself

Reading Margaret Atwood is an incomparable literary experience. Renee Nault had to dissect and analyze the book in depth. She explains that some scenes were difficult to do.

“It was very difficult to work on this project for so long, because I had to immerse myself in the universe of The Scarlet Handmaid for a long time. It's really sinister. Political events like the election of Donald Trump and attacks on women's rights. I felt like the novel was coming true around me. »

The illustrator explains that she had to think about her art rather than what happens to the characters, but that was difficult. “This novel is based on reality. This is still the reality for many women around the world. »

"I'm happy to have done this job, because it's important, but it represents a few pretty dark years for me, like no one else. I chose not to present scenes that were too explicit because we wanted the book to be read by everyone. Despite all this, what is described is horrible. »