An extract from The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
In Margaret Atwood’s feminist dystopian classic, nothing happens ‘that hasn’t already happened at some time or another’
Monthly Spotlight: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 1986, The Handmaid’s Tale is the dystopian novel that became a phenomenon
The Handmaid’s Tale was Atwood’s sixth novel – a chilling work of speculative fiction that masterfully examines gender, power, and resistance. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1986 and won the first-ever Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987, and has since become a modern classic, inspiring adaptations across film, television, theatre, and ballet.
Set in the totalitarian Republic of Gilead, where plummeting birth rates have led to the enslavement of fertile women as ‘Handmaids’, the novel follows Offred as she navigates a world stripped of freedom. Her memories of life before – her husband, her child, her autonomy – offer both comfort and torment.
Since its publication in 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale has become a cornerstone of feminist and dystopian literature. Its stark imagery – the red cloaks, the white bonnets – has transformed into a global symbol of resistance, while its warnings about extremism, environmental collapse, and the fragility of rights remain as urgent as ever.
From a reading guide and extract to illuminating features, find out more about our April Monthly Spotlight here.
- By
- Margaret Atwood
- Published by
- Jonathan Cape
In Margaret Atwood’s feminist dystopian classic, nothing happens ‘that hasn’t already happened at some time or another’