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The Handmaid's Tale: The iconic Sunday Times bestseller that inspired the hit TV series Paperback – 7 October 2010

by Margaret Atwood (Author)

156,119 ratings

Book 1 of 2: The Handmaid's Tale

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'Compulsively readable' Daily Telegraph

** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER **

Discover the dystopian novel that started a phenomenon.

Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford - her assigned name, Offred, means 'of Fred'. She has only one function- to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs.

'A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist' Bernadine Evaristo

'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian

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Review

A contemporary classic… the book serves as a chilling reminder of what women have experienced ― Independent

Book Description

'Compulsively readable' Daily Telegraph

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ VINTAGE ARROW - MASS MARKET
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 7 October 2010
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0099511665
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099511663
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 238 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.8 x 2 x 19.8 cm
Book 1 of 2 ‏ : ‎ The Handmaid's Tale

Best Sellers Rank: 307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1 in Political Fiction (Books)
- 1 in Canadian Literature (Books)
- 1 in Social Fiction

Customer Reviews:
156,119 ratings

About the author

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Margaret Atwood

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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, went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the 2017 release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. ‘Her sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019. It was an instant international bestseller and won the Booker Prize.’

Atwood has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. 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.

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Customer reviews

156,119 global ratings

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Customers find this book to be a great page turner with well-crafted writing, particularly noting its unique style and relevance to today's world. The story receives mixed reactions - while many find it compelling, some express disappointment with the unsatisfactory ending. Customers describe the book as terrifying and emotionally raw, though some find it hard to get into.

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Readability Writing quality Relevance to today Chilling content Writing style Story quality Emotional content Difficulty to get into

59 customers mention ‘Readability’59 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a great page turner and required reading for everyone.

"...It is chilling. Atwood is an excellent writer, and the subject is profound. If you haven't read this book, I urge you to...." Read more

"...Even at times if I didn’t like the writing style, this is great literary work, a true classic but let’s hope not a plan or worse, a future..." Read more

"Great book" Read more

"...It made the reading far more interesting and a part of the story in itself with some ludicrously tiny sentences. A splendid read!..." Read more

42 customers mention ‘Writing quality’31 positive11 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as wonderful and eloquent, with one customer noting it is written entirely in the present tense.

"...Told from a very intimate first person narration, 'The Handmaid's Tale' provides a gripping account of a young woman's struggle in a nightmare..." Read more

"...it is an easy read and very different setting - offers a lot for us to consider our world and how much we make it for granted." Read more

"...While I think the book was about right in length, I'd happily trade some of the slower set-up of the world for some more exposition...." Read more

"...As it was almost entirely an inner dialogue, it was difficult to follow who said what when the narrator was reflecting on conversations and..." Read more

11 customers mention ‘Relevance to today’11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly relevant to today's world, with one customer noting how it provides a dystopian perspective and another highlighting how its themes expose larger social commentary.

"...'s Tale is like the best science fiction, themes in the book expose larger social commentary, holding our own society up to a confronting..." Read more

"...- for our bookclub - and I am sure it will make very for a very interesting discussion...." Read more

"An important piece of literature that I couldn't put down. This story reached into my psyche and dragged up lots of emotional reactions...." Read more

"A great insight to what it is like living in the American bible belt...." Read more

7 customers mention ‘Chilling content’7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content chilling and terrifying, with one customer describing it as a spine-chilling dystopian novel.

"...It is chilling. Atwood is an excellent writer, and the subject is profound. If you haven't read this book, I urge you to...." Read more

"What a cool / terrifying book. Any book or story in any form that has you gnawing on every detail, desperate for more is a great thing...." Read more

"This chilling and compelling story reveals a Big Brotherly future western society ruled by religious fundamentalists...." Read more

"...This is superb writing creating a seriously creepy world that is only half a step from reality...." Read more

7 customers mention ‘Writing style’7 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, with one describing it as a beautifully written dystopian novel.

"...after the first movie was made and found Margaret’s Gilead to be innovative and unique in its view of a possible future...." Read more

"...For such an eloquently and thoughtfully written book, the lack of a satisfactory ending was a surprise." Read more

"Margaret Atwood has a very clever, crrative mind, and this story both fascinated and shocked me because of its content...." Read more

"Great copy, looks beautiful, thoughtfully designed." Read more

54 customers mention ‘Story quality’37 positive17 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the story quality of the book, with some finding it compelling and captivating, while others express disappointment with the lack of a satisfactory ending.

"...The Handmaid's Tale is like the best science fiction, themes in the book expose larger social commentary, holding our own society up to a..." Read more

"Whilst a work of fiction, gee it could easily be evolving to fact with the actions of the current administration that seems to have reverted to..." Read more

"...it was scary and shocking how easily the themes in the book might develop - definitely a read for women. Talk about back to the future!" Read more

"...Atwood gave her and the overarching story a great mix between keeping the various scenes moving and cutting all over the place too much...." Read more

8 customers mention ‘Emotional content’5 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the emotional content of the book, with some appreciating its raw emotions while others find it distressing.

"...This story reached into my psyche and dragged up lots of emotional reactions...." Read more

"I last read this book in high school and found it surreal and a little sad. Now after re reading it..it is terrifying." Read more

"10/10 HOLY COW! This book- the raw truth. The raw emotions. The horrors- the victory’s the loosing- all of it. Amazing" Read more

"...So believable and at times emotionally hard to read. Hopefully a follow on." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Difficulty to get into’0 positive5 negative

Customers find the book difficult to get into.

"I struggled to get into this one. It was written in the first person and many events and situations were not explained enough for me...." Read more

"Strange story, very hard to get into, then ends abruptly. Leaves you wanting more but not sure why. The TV series may give more answers" Read more

"...what I was expecting when I purchased this book but I found it hard to get into, didn’t hold my attention at all and I found the storyline didn’t..." Read more

"At first I found the book difficult to get into but once over the lack of correct grammatical punctuation found it addictively horrific." Read more

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NicShef❤️Reading
Chilling...
Reviewed in Australia on 7 July 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase

I read this when it was first published in the 1980's and bought the Kindle and re-read it when I knew the series was being released recently. Told from a very intimate first person narration, 'The Handmaid's Tale' provides a gripping account of a young woman's struggle in a nightmare society in a dystopian future. Following a cataclysmic event, democracy is overturned, a progressive 'normal' Western society becomes an oppressive regime where women's civil rights and freedoms are things of the past.

This dystopia destroys individuality and freedom to achieve the perfect society. 'The Handmaid's Tale' takes place in the Republic of Gilead, where there is a caste system and strict rules to keep the community in order and to save the population by having complete control over reproduction.

The heroine, Offred, is now a Handmaid. She has borne a child, so since she is known to be fertile she is placed with a family who have been unable to conceive their own child. Any child she bears now will stay with Fred and his wife, while Offred will move to a new family (and receive a new name, since Handmaids are named for the head of the household where they live). "Humanity is so adaptable, my mother would say. Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations." - Offred

The Handmaid's Tale is like the best science fiction, themes in the book expose larger social commentary, holding our own society up to a confronting mirror.
It is chilling. Atwood is an excellent writer, and the subject is profound. If you haven't read this book, I urge you to. I will now watch the series...

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21 people found this helpful

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Avid Reader
fiction but ..,
Reviewed in Australia on 8 May 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Whilst a work of fiction, gee it could easily be evolving to fact with the actions of the current administration that seems to have reverted to dangerous ideologues of the 1930s and 1950s, and as the author suggests perhaps all the way back to the Old Testament. There are plenty for whom enlightenment is little more than newspeak. Even at times if I didn’t like the writing style, this is great literary work, a true classic but let’s hope not a plan or worse, a future documentary.

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Maria Lopez
The Handmaid's Tale
Reviewed in Australia on 18 February 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Great book

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Maree A Sharples
Do we take our world for granted?
Reviewed in Australia on 29 June 2020
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
I read The Hanmaid's Tale - for our bookclub - and I am sure it will make very for a very interesting discussion.

Personally there were parts I enjoyed and others that challenged my thoughts. it is an easy read and very different setting - offers a lot for us to consider our world and how much we make it for granted.

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Ross McDougall
short sentences. big story!
Reviewed in Australia on 11 May 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
What a cool / terrifying book.
Any book or story in any form that has you gnawing on every detail, desperate for more is a great thing. The only thing that could have been better was more!

Offred was the kind of unreliable narrator that I love to read. Atwood gave her and the overarching story a great mix between keeping the various scenes moving and cutting all over the place too much. I also liked the easily digestible chapter lengths; it's a real 'just one more chapter' read.

The universe was well-realised, and bolstered more at the end. I'd like to hear more about this time in Gilead. While I think the book was about right in length, I'd happily trade some of the slower set-up of the world for some more exposition.

While a lot of reviews have commented on the inconsistency in inverted commas, I didn't find it very distracting; rather it encouraged me to read passages multiple times to catch the rhythm Atwood set. It made the reading far more interesting and a part of the story in itself with some ludicrously tiny sentences.

A splendid read! It took a while to get moving which removes one star, but it was still easy to stick with because every page posed more questions to be answered.

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8 people found this helpful

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GlennL-G
A picture of a very real and possible dystopian future - very scary
Reviewed in Australia on 1 February 2020
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This book painted such a realistic picture that one might think it could possibly happen in today society. it was scary and shocking how easily the themes in the book might develop - definitely a read for women. Talk about back to the future!

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PamR
Margaret Atwood is truly gifted and has created a powerful warning to all those who think feminism is unnecessary.
Reviewed in Australia on 7 June 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
An important piece of literature that I couldn't put down. This story reached into my psyche and dragged up lots of emotional reactions. Ofred's circumstances are every woman's most extreme fears; powerlessness, enslavement, objectification, rape, hopelessness. The Handmaid's Tale is a difficult read in terms of the emotional punch it packs, but it is such an important story to hear. And the writing is sublime. Margaret Atwood is truly gifted and has created a powerful warning to all those who think feminism is unnecessary.

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4 people found this helpful

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BruceMc
It’s not pretty, but then when a revolution happens
Reviewed in Australia on 17 May 2018
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Offred is a Handmaid - a sex slave to a man in a powerful position in a post-apocalyptic state in the former USA. Her role is necessary as many women are sterile and only the powerful are allowed the privilege of a Handmaid. But she has memories of the time before this autocratic, quasi-religious state came into being. She yearns for the past and the freedoms that she, and most others, no longer have, and for her lost husband and child. Most people are suppressed and only a few privileged men benefit from the autocratic society. Families have been broken up, fertile women become sex slaves, older and infertile women who are not wives of privileged men are sent to the colonies, men without power become soldiers if they are lucky, and a lucky few manage to escape across the border. The story is grim from beginning to end but a glimmer of hope is seen at the end.

This is a story that shows when things go wrong in society, things could descend into a dark place. And it suggests that women, in particular, could suffer most. It’s not pretty, but then when a revolution happens, things are not pretty. In my opinion, there is a suggestion here that when people are apathetic about their government, groups with narrow interests can take over - something that is reflected in the current US government and splinter movements elsewhere.

This is a powerful story that shows the worst that society can descend to. I give the story 4 stars out of 5.

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Anonymous
Ótimo livro!
Reviewed in Brazil on 16 January 2025
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Já tinha assistido à série homônima de TV e achei ótimo o livro.

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GABixlerReviews
1986 Novel Must-Read for Today!
Reviewed in the United States on 8 April 2024
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I had purchased this book quite some time ago when a friend of mine mention it to me... I had thoughts of Fifty Shades of Grey which I had purchased because another individual had liked it... Let me say right away that I read less than 50 pages of the latter and stopped reading. On the other hand, when in a discussion with a good friend, I was talking about the latest attempt to control women, looking to stop the use of an abortion pill that was been on the market for decades... At that point, she cried "OMG, The Handmaiden is Happening!

After that conversation was over and I was home, I pulled up my copy of The Handmaid's Tale. It seemed like I was led to be reading it now... I knew immediately what my friend meant. At the end, I began to read the Historical Notes, but at first overlooked the date 2195... I went in search of what is referred to as the Gileadean Regime. Which was to have been the time during which a religious group had taken over America... Suddenly I had to agree. The Handmaid's Tale was now moving forward as had begun during the beginning of the decade... See my blog post for relevant videos I found... Women have been talking about this book since 2016, in particular!

The main character is a young woman, much like my friend, who has a loving husband and a child. Soon, both of them have disappeared and she never sees them again. As we watch the woman, now given another name, she imagines what might have happened to her family. And she strives to remember the past, what was happening in her life and in the world... She is not allowed to have any contact with that world; she remembers though and hopes she will not lose those memories--of Luke, her husband and her child, a little girl... Once during the book, a picture of her daughter was shared by the wife of the man who now owned her... She wants a child enough that she is willing to bargain with his Handmaid...

There are three handmaids for his man. We never know exactly who or what he does. It is irrelevant since they are closeted away and are only seen when sex is to occur. Both of the prospective parents are included in this charade... It is described in the book; it is terrible to visualize...

And then after been raped by her owner a number of times, she arranges through his driver to have her visit him in his office. Interestingly, he asks her to play a board game... As time goes by, he introduces a magazine no longer in print, having been banned, and allows her to sit in the room to read it; he sits watching her... and they talk. He shares that he and his wife no longer talk to each other like they once did. He misses that. She now talks mostly with the wives of other owners, as they are permitted to interact only with them... It seems that every woman who is living at the time, has been given a job in their new locations... Marthas, for instance are the cooks, obviously named after the two sisters in the Bible, Martha being the one who quickly prepares a meal when Jesus visits...

But there is little to do about religion in this world in which has been created... except what is important to ensure that women know their places... the reason seems to be close to what is being spouted now... white women are not now producing enough children... something had to be done... work was no longer possible. The women needed to be free to be available for those times when it was possible to get pregnant. Nothing else mattered.

The entire book is centered into one household full of women--and one older man. Other men may work for the man as well; but the women all had specific tasks. And those who "believed" in what was happening were called Aunts; they were to train, supervise, and, if necessary, punish the handmaids. A cow prod was used.

Soon the woman who has a new name is comfortable enough with the head of the house to have him ask her if she would like to have an adventure... She is taken to what we would call a brothel, she is dressed for the occasion from old, use, sex-oriented clothing that has been hidden away after all such activities were forbidden in the world... Only men of the Gilead Regime were members of the Club... And, yes, it was a sex club where the leaders of the group participated in their sexual interests--beyond what were performed with the Handmaids... Sound familiar?

As you may already have realized, many of the things that were now forbidden for women in the book have already started occurring, based upon the move by a presidential candidate and his followers. There have been many women caught by the state congresses to stop abortions for religious reasons, it seems. I am one of the many Christians who do not accept that the Christian Nationalist Party has anything to do with God our Father... And, for me, Jesus His Son... If you have had any questions regarding this matter, I highly recommend you start reading...before it, too, is banned... The Handmaid's Tale spotlights exactly what will be happening to any woman if the party candidate (or his down-ballot candidates) are elected into office in 2024. In my opinion, there is no better way to see how religion as a single authority results in America going backward in progressive changes made during the last 100 years. Voting will be eliminated... All books of any kind will be removed... Women will be divided into groups, some of whom will be training young women to have unwelcomed sex with their new owner(s). Wives will be...tolerated...or ignored altogether... We have already seen that rape and incest are not to be factors in deciding about having an abortion. Indeed, no medical issues can affect the birth moving to completion, even if the new baby dies in the mother's arms soon thereafter. She will then be expected to begin again to provide a way to provide heirs for old men whose wives are past the age... This book prophesized it; we have not choice as women--we must speak out against it!

I consider this a must-read for every woman, and man who will be left without a wife or forced to give up all children from their marriage... Margaret Atwood watched what was happening. She wrote a futuristic novel to illustrate what she foresaw... I, too, believe, "The Handmaid Tale is NOW Happening..."

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Belle couverture

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1984 for women

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Resimdeki kapak ile geldi Vintage Classics basim. Tesekkurler.

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The Handmaid's Tale: The iconic Sunday Times bestseller that inspired the hit TV series Paperback – 7 October 2010

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5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo livro!

5.0 out of 5 stars 1986 Novel Must-Read for Today!

5.0 out of 5 stars Bien

5.0 out of 5 stars About

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Classics

Ótimo livro!

1986 Novel Must-Read for Today!

Bien

About

Vintage Classics