Sequel Alert: The Handmaid’s Tale Will Continue!

Riveting, provocative, and harrowing are a couple of the words that have been used to describe Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which was first published in 1985. You could also add  beloved, as this dystopian novel has won legions of fans and great popularity and been made into a movie, an opera, and a recent streaming series that sparked popular conversation in these divisive times.

The story—set in the fictional but New England-like theocracy of Gilead, ruled by harsh fundamentalists—shares how women were stripped of their rights and enslaved to serve men. Some (the titular handmaids) must bear children for higher-status couples who are infertile, but all are forbidden to read, write, or use their names. The lead character’s name, Offred, for instance, means “Of Fred,” hinging her identity on the man, Fred, whom she serves.