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)

One of the finest novels of the late 20th Century

What a breathtaking yet quiet novel. To me, this is the only way to describe this book. It requires the reader to think hard and long about the protagonist emotions since much of the story occurs in their thoughts, or at least the thoughts inside "Off Glenn". Like other Atwood books it builds slowly and you yearn for details that will only be fleshed out over time. Instead, you are given a non-linear story that is hard to follow at first, but will reward you. What this lacks in action it more than makes up for it in insightful, and beautiful writing. You will be treated to some of the most sensuous and erotic writing ever centered around a game of Scrabble. If you can put the time in, it will be well worth it.

Truly Chilling

This is truly an amazing story! Claire Danes is superb! Highly recommend this book. It's so chilling how this story feels like a foreshadowing of our current political climate.

Not what I expectef

I just kept expecting more, I guess. Narration was excellent and, at times, the only reason I kept going. Just not enough drama for me.

End drops off and left me confused

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Unsure - the first 46 chapters were a decent story and then chapter 47 hits and boredom sets in.

Glad I read it

So this was one of those books that I didn't love but at the same time couldn't stop reading. It was interesting and very thought provoking but left me wanting a little more. Like I said though I'm glad I read it.

Sheer Scary Brilliance

This is not the first time I've read this book, but it is the first time it scared me. In 2017, it no longer feels so fantastical...so impossible to imagine...

Brilliant cautionary tale by a brilliant author. If you are a woman and haven't read it...you must.

Wanted More

An interesting book, but the ending was so abrupt, I thought I had missed a few chapters..I wanted to read this before seeing the TV series..I hope it's better than the book.

Terrifying!

Not what I expected, but totally entrancing story! and Claire Danes was perfection as the narrator! Wow!!

Well done

It captured me completely by the telling of the story. Very well written and told.

Amazing and thought provoking

So well written and interesting, keeps you reading by revealing crumbs of information at a time. Truly amazing.