The Angst of Liking “The Handmaid’s Tale”

I have rarely been so affected by a novel as I have been, just now, by the Handmaid’s Tale. I’m having trouble understanding why that is. Although I am, intellectually, in sympathy with all the “right” causes, I’ve never been prone to emotionally identifying with oppressed groups. Nor are women’s issues a particular concern of mine (and this novel is ab…