The Handmaid's Tale

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Claire Danes

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

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)

Surprisingly thoughtful

Not what I feared; no man hating. Rather, beautiful imagery, multifaceted consideration of self and extremism. Multiple points of view are explored by the protagonist. In this future, love and humanity are sacrificed for cultish ideals. Read it.

Great story, incredible narration!

I read this book when it came out, way back when. I avoided watching the series because it looked so graphic and upsetting. When The Testaments came out, I ordered it on my Kindle. But then I saw this and I thought maybe I would refresh myself. WOW. Not only had it been some time since I read the book the first time, but it is more relevant today than ever. Claire Danes absolutely inhabited the role of Ofred and brought the material to life. Honestly, I was just floored. So glad I read the book again. The narration was very powerful and well worth listening to. One of the most powerful stories I have ever read. It will never leave me.

A good writer but story dated and a slog

What did you love best about The Handmaid's Tale?

Atwood created a compelling feminist dystopia

What other book might you compare The Handmaid's Tale to and why?

1984 by Orwell

Have you listened to any of Claire Danes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Haven't listened to others by Danes, but she did a fine job. The story
required an actress of her range.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Women are Losers

Any additional comments?

The Handmaid's Tale can be a bit of a slog. It's humorless and grim, although
certain ideas resonate even today. I told my wife that I went the distance
with Atwood.

I did not want it to end

Where does The Handmaid's Tale rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the top three

What other book might you compare The Handmaid's Tale to and why?

I can't think of a comparable book at the moment.

Have you listened to any of Claire Danes’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Great performance! If this is ever made into a movie would I really would like to see her play Offered.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. It left me feeling desperate to know her name and what happened to her.

Dystopian Done Right

Any additional comments?

This was a great story of a Dystopian future where women are basically slaves. It all starts when the military kills congress and the president, then blames it on muslim extremists and institutes measure to keep every one "safe". Such as outlawing protesting and most basic rights we have.

This was written in the 80s, but the pretext of muslim extremists used to take away civil liberties, somehow makes me wonder of the author could see the future.

Flawless Narration

The Handmaid's Tale is a frightening portrayal of another reality. A reality I pray will never exist.. In this novel, the world as we know it no longer exists. It has been wracked by chemical and nuclear "accidents" as well as opportunistic wars.

Those who have risen to power, have created a scary existance for the rest of the population. Religious zealots now rule with an iron fist. They mandate all facets of life for everyone. The only way to survive is to accept their brutal form of religion where only the select few are considered worthy.

Women of child-bearing age, who are found to remain fertile despite the chemicals that have ravaged the earth, are relagated to repopulate the earth. It is their duty. Their life is no longer their own. In fact no one's life is their own anymore.

The novel is very thoughtfully written. The language flows beautifully and the narration is flawless. Claire Danes does the best narration I've listened to. She really captures the essance of the characters without embelishing them in anyway. She simply lets the characters be themselves and allows the author to create their voices.

This book was written several years ago, but given the divide in our present time it seems more relevant now than it was when originally written.

I expected something else.

I just couldn’t get into it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ guess it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Next.

Sobering

A most sobering portrayal of what could await America if we don't begin to recognize and deal with some of the far right elements in our country

More terrifying than Stephen King

Fantastic narration. Terrifying in its plausibility. Similar vibe to reading The Diary of Anne Frank.

Decent listen

Conceptually redundant but moving nonetheless.

Minimum word counts are stupid and I'm scamming the system.