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The Handmaid's Tale  By  cover art

The Handmaid's Tale

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Claire Danes
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Fiction, 2013

Margaret Atwood's popular dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale explores a broad range of issues relating to power, gender, and religious politics. Multiple Golden Globe award-winner Claire Danes (Romeo and Juliet, The Hours) gives a stirring performance of this classic in speculative fiction, one of the most powerful and widely read novels of our time.

After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules in hopes of ending this oppression.

Cover Art by Fred Marcellino. Used with permission of Pippin Properties, Inc.

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©1985 Margaret Atwood (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Claire Danes sparkles in this performance…Danes’s Offred is complex, and her flashes of intense strength highlight her vulnerability. This is a consuming listen, thanks to Danes’s emotional subtleties.” (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about The Handmaid's Tale

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    27,367
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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Fantastic and horrifying!

Never to late to listen to a classic! Loved it and it scared me at the same time. May it never come to pass!!!!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Show is better

The book felt like a really abbreviated version of a show that ends in a very unsatisfying way. I guess it’s my bad for watching the show before reading the book first.

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    3 out of 5 stars

thought it would be better

narrator was great. story had potential to be. it left a lot of unanswered questions .

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Narrator

She was FANTASTIC. Not only was the story well written, but Claire Danes made it come to life. I have never written a review, but this performance deserves praise!

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Incredible narration and writing

the performance of this amazing book is superb. I couldn't stop listening, blazed through it. cant wait to start the sequel

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Really well done compelling story.

Scary as it is a little too close to home. Danes did a great job.

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A cautionary tale - very relevant at this time!

So glad to have read (listening to…) this wonderful book. The tale told in a first person narrative is dark cautionary tale of a religious-based totalitarian society. Seems very relevant at a time when men in power in the US are trying to take away the rights of women to control their own bodies. Also at a time with a strong religious right and a wanna be dictator. Everyone should read this book as they should 1984!

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A Pedantic Morality Play

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is another dystopian view of the future that manages to drag out all the usual villains: religious zealots, an oppressive patriarchy, a complicit matriarchy, violation of reproductive rights, toxic abusers of the environment, and war mongers. It is a ham-fisted warning to all “right-minded” people of what will happen to them if they do not fight those who do not share their ideals. The story is told in an out-of-sequence manner that might have generated suspense if the outcome were not so painfully obvious from the first syllable. Claire Dane’s reading is a series of rapid staccato sentences interspersed with pregnant pauses that drag the story out for several unnecessary hours. Accelerating the spread by a factor of 1.25 helped reduce the tedium, but nothing could save this book from itself. If I were not a compulsive finisher, this book would have made a fine addition to my electronic recycle bin.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story and performance!

Loved everything! If you are into dark dystopian story its the right pick! The performance is very good.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Bad Ending

Any additional comments?

I thought Claire Danes was wonderful as the narrator. I was so into the story, then at the end I was like "WTH" So disappointed...

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