num_pages: 311
description: The Handmaid's Tale is not only a radical and brilliant departure for Margaret Atwood, it is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States, now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men of its population.The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.--front flap
language: English
title: The Handmaid's Tale
titlecomplete: The Handmaid's Tale
characters: Janine (The Handmaid's Tale), Aunt Lydia, Offred, The Commander, Ofglen, Nick (The Handmaid's Tale), Serena Joy, Moira
genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Adult, Feminism, Fantasy, Literature, Novels, Audiobook
ratings_count: 1951635
places: Republic of Gilead, Bangor, Maine, The United States of America
series: The Handmaid’s Tale 
awards: awardedAt: 504950400000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 504950400000
name: Nebula Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 536486400000
name: Locus Award
category: Best SF Novel, awardedAt: 536486400000
name: Arthur C. Clarke Award, awardedAt: 1357027200000
name: Audie Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 504950400000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 536486400000
name: Prometheus Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: James Tiptree Jr. Award
category: Retrospective, awardedAt: 473414400000
name: Governor General's Literary Awards / Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 536486400000
name: SF Chronicle Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 536486400000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best Book in Caribbean and Canada, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: CBC Canada Reads, awardedAt: 1325404800000
name: Metų verstinė knyga
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company