Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale

lmt · ‎05-19-2010

Margaret Atwood is returning to Gilead.

The author behind The Handmaid’s Tale announced Tuesday that she is writing a sequel to the dystopian novel, which will be released next fall. EW confirmed the news with the book’s publisher, Nan A.Talese/Doubleday, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

The Testaments is set 15 years after Offred’s final scene in The Handmaid’s Tale and will be narrated by three female characters. “Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book,” Atwood said in a statement. “Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.”

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a grim (and not-so-distant) future in which the United States has been replaced by an oppressive, theocratic government that forces fertile women into servitude to bear children — and centers on one of those “handmaids,” Offred, and her fight to survive under Gilead’s totalitarian regime. The novel was first published in 1985, but gained renewed attention in recent years thanks to its acclaimed TV adaptation. The Hulu series concluded its second season this past summer and is due to return for a third.

EW has learned that the book will not be connected to the TV series.

“I have published Margaret Atwood’s work since 1976 – her poetry, fiction and nonfiction,” Nan A. Talese said. “A manuscript from her is always a reason for joy. She writes wonderfully and has a mind like a steel trap. This new book is no exception.”

The Testaments will be published on Sept. 10, 2019.

Lilysmom · ‎03-09-2010

@lmt, thanks for posting. I watched The Handmaid’s Tale. I didn’t read the book. I find some of her books just too depressing. If it makes it to TV, I will watch. I thought the acting in The Handmaid’s Tale was superb. It was almost like I watched it peeking through hand covered eyes. You know, how you can’t look away? Disturbing stuff but very well done series.

Another series like this vis a vis can’t look away was a series called The Keepers. It was about a nun who was murdered and Se*ual abuse in the Catholic Church. Very sad. Anyone see that? LM

smoky22 · ‎05-30-2010

@lmt thanks for posting. I'm sure I will read it when it comes out. She's such a good writer. I have not seen the TV series.

lmt · ‎05-19-2010

@Lilysmom @smoky22 I read the book and loved it, although it was very disturbing that something like that could happen. I'll definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

I don't have Hulu so I haven't seen the series, but I'd like to.

JillyMarie · ‎03-29-2015

@Lilysmom wrote:

Another series like this vis a vis can’t look away was a series called The Keepers. It was about a nun who was murdered and Se*ual abuse in the Catholic Church. Very sad. Anyone see that? LM

Yes. Sister Catherine Cesnik was born in Lawrenceville, a Pittsburgh neighborhood, so it had hometown ties for my husband and me. I was floored by that documentary. Highly recommend it.

JillyMarie · ‎03-29-2015

@lmt wrote:
@Lilysmom @smoky22 I read the book and loved it, although it was very disturbing that something like that could happen. I'll definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

I don't have Hulu so I haven't seen the series, but I'd like to.

@lmt

Netflix has the series on DVD. As a matter of fact, I'm getting the first disc of the 2nd Season in this afternoon's mail.