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The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood


$13.99
Condition - Very Good
40+ in stock

Summary

In this haunting dystopian novel, June Osborne finds herself in a terrifying totalitarian state known as the Republic of Gilead (formerly the United States). Here, her only function is to breed. If she refuses, she will be hung or sent away to do backbreaking work where death from radiation sickness is the only way out. Her husband has been separated from her, her child has been taken away.

The Handmaid's Tale Summary

The Handmaid's Tale: the book that inspired the hit TV series by Margaret Atwood

She is placed in a household under Commander Fred Waterford’s rule and given a new name, Offred. She must continue to offer herself to him with the sole objective of becoming pregnant though, should this happen, the child would not be considered her own.
Throughout the novel, Offred recalls her previous life in flashbacks while also guiding the reader to an understanding of how this world came to be. The current landscape is wrought with danger, torture, and persecution.
However bleak her circumstances, Offred refuses to give up hope, of finding her daughter, of reuniting with her family, and in a resistance that may finally bring Gilead to its knees.
Now made into a hugely successful TV series, Margaret Atwood’s number one bestselling novel is a powerful and terrifyingly resonant insight into what it means to live in a society of total oppression, where freedom will never be an option.
You should read this book if…
  • You want to read a powerful story from a woman’s perspective, examining themes of oppression and feminism
  • You are looking for a book full of action, tension, and drama
  • You are a fan of the esteemed author, Margaret Atwood, or have enjoyed the TV series

The Handmaid's Tale Reviews

A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist
Compulsively readable * Daily Telegraph *
The mother of all feminist dystopian novels * Red *
The novel satirises the strain of evangelical puritanism in American culture and the objectification and control of women's bodies. It is more broadly a contemporary myth of despotic power, and how such power deforms those who are subjected to it * Observer *
The Handmaid's Tale is both a superlative exercise in science fiction and a profoundly felt moral story -- Angela Carter
Out of a narrative shadowed by terror, gleam sharp perceptions, brilliant intense images and sardonic wit -- Peter Kemp * Independent *
Margaret Atwood is a wry and perceptive observer of society as well as an original storyteller * Psychologist *
The images of brilliant emptiness are one of the most striking aspects of this novel about totalitarian blindness...the effect is chilling -- Linda Taylor * Sunday Times *
Brilliantly conceived and executed, this powerful evocation of twenty-first century America gives full rein to Margaret Atwood's devastating irony, wit and astute perception * Essence *
It's hard to believe it is 25 years since it was first published, but its freshness, its anger and its disciplined, taut prose have grown more admirable in the intervening years... Atwood's novel was an ingenious enterprise that showed, with out hysteria, the real dangers to women of closing their eyes to patriarchal -- Lesley McDowell * Independent on Sunday *

About Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments, which was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. In 2020 she published Dearly, her first collection of poetry for a decade.

Atwood has won numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Additional information

GOR008444300
9781784873189
1784873187
The Handmaid's Tale: the book that inspired the hit TV series by Margaret Atwood
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Vintage Publishing
20170525
336
null null null null null null null null null null
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Handmaid's Tale