The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)

by Margaret Atwood

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Book cover for The Handmaid's Tale

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The Handmaid's Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.
--front flap
  • ISBN10 0395404258
  • ISBN13 9780395404256
  • Publish Date 1 November 1988 (first published 1 January 1985)
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 15 December 2009
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint Houghton Mifflin
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 311
  • Language English