num_pages: 324
description: The Handmaid's Tale is a radical departure for Margaret Atwood. Set in the near future, in a locale that oddly resembles Cambridge, Massachusetts, it describes life in what was once the United States. Now, however, it has become the Republic of Gilead, a monolithic theocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans, and has gone far beyond them. This regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for women, and for men as well.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 A Clockwork Orange as seen by women: unexpected, funny, horrifying, and altogether convincing. the book is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning. this is Atwood in top form.--front flap
language: English
title: The Handmaid's Tale
titlecomplete: The Handmaid's Tale
characters: Offred, Ofglen, Serena Joy, Aunt Lydia, Janine (The Handmaid's Tale), The Commander, Nick (The Handmaid's Tale), Moira
genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Literature, Adult, Classics, Feminism, Novels, Fantasy, Dystopia, Audiobook
ratings_count: 1951937
places: Bangor, Maine, The United States of America, Republic of Gilead
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: McClelland and Stewart