---
product_id: 2204304
title: "The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel"
price: "€ 26.13"
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reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.gr/products/2204304-the-handmaids-tale-a-novel
store_origin: GR
region: Greece
---

# 4.3/5 from 174K+ readers #4 Political Fiction bestseller 300 pages of gripping dystopia The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel

**Price:** € 26.13
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## Summary

> 🔥 Unlock the dystopian classic that everyone’s talking about!

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- **What is this?** The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel
- **How much does it cost?** € 26.13 with free shipping
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## Why This Product

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## Key Features

- • **Join a Global Conversation:** Over 174,000 reviews and counting—don’t miss out on the book shaping today’s cultural discourse.
- • **Unmatched Cultural Relevance:** Ranked #4 in Political Fiction and #6 in Dystopian Fiction, this novel is a must-read for the socially conscious professional.
- • **Powerful Female Protagonist Voice:** Offred’s raw, honest perspective offers a compelling roadmap through oppression and resilience.
- • **Layered, Thought-Provoking Writing:** Each page unravels complex themes with poetic precision, challenging readers to confront uncomfortable truths.
- • **A Masterclass in Dystopian Storytelling:** Margaret Atwood’s visionary narrative that resonates deeply with today’s socio-political climate.

## Overview

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a 300-page dystopian novel ranked among the top political and dystopian fiction books. Praised for its prescient themes and powerful female protagonist, it holds a 4.3-star rating from over 174,000 readers, making it an essential read for anyone interested in socio-political narratives and cultural relevance.

## Description

The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel [Atwood, Margaret] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel

Review: Perfect and prescient for these times. READ it. - I will admit - Over the years, 'Handmaid' was one of those books everyone had told me just HAD to be read - but with the clear discomfort they'd show in saying that, I always thought - Nope; not for me. I'm just not one for the whole dystopian thing; I need to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Fast forward to last week - this book being required for my daughter's Eng Lit class, and sitting available while I was at loose ends in a Starbucks for several hours - I thought, Why not?... and how glad I am, that I had those few hours. Wow. I was gone, hook line and sinker, from the first page on. Handmaid is set in, yes, a dystopian future in which women's place in the world has been subverted, through various events which resonate awfully closely with current times. The story picks up at the moment when Offred (a concatenation of her "owner's" name and her position in this society) is assigned to a new home in a city in America, for reasons that become all too clear within a few short pages. Her experiences within this new environment, interwoven with her recollection of her past before this societal apocalypse, unveil themselves like the layers of an onion - a never-ending interweaving of recollections and current experiences which, in their close parallels with so much that seems to be happening in our current world, make it not just an uncomfortable read, as so many other reviewers have said; but an eerily prescient one for these times. I could go on about that aspect of what makes this such a valuable read for any person over the age of 10 years old, but I'm quite sure many of the 1,000 + prior reviewers will have spoken to that far more effectively than I ever could. But for me, what makes this book so great is the Voice that the protagonist gains as she struggles in such a harsh, unforgiving, and shockingly cruel environment - the brutal honesty with which that voice speaks to the horrors and impossible personal choices that any of us would have to make, faced with such a savagely misogynistic society. There is no turning away from those realities in this book; Offred is, clearly, no better than any of us; but, she is, perhaps, more honest about her choices than any of us would ever manage to be. She has no roads but dead ends; no feelings but pain, isolation, and tragic loss; in a society which both reviles her and yet absolutely, completely, stunningly, needs her. And yet. There is compassion - much compassion - in this book not just for Offred but for each of her persecutors; and a perfectly clear view, of each person in Offred's life, from the patriarchy which dictates every aspect of the lives of the Americans; to the women with whom she is forced to share the household; to the man who runs their lives - and in theory owns Offred, body and soul. Margaret Atwood has managed to capture the complete horror of this situation and yet the complete spectrum of needs and innate humanness - warts and all - of each of the players in this world, speaking with true sight not only about what they each do, but the real WHY of it, like a series of ornate but utterly constrained chess pieces moved about in a deadly game by unseen hands. Atwood's brilliance with the written word, the layers of meaning she assigns to so many individual words, is a both a challenge and a complete delight, no matter how difficult the topics she makes us consider. Each page is like unwrapping a gift of many layers of brightly colored paper, never knowing what you will ultimately find inside: something to treasure, or something to fear. Offred's voice and her observations of self, other, and society are so clear and beautiful, so bleak, sad and yet hopeful - so compelling - in making us see these people. There are many phrases and visions Atwood has generated that will stay with me, now, for life. I cannot say I am in all cases glad of that - but I know i am richer for it. And in reading many of the current, more negative responses of the desertcart reading community, I cannot help but wonder if their dislike of the book is in many cases driven precisely from Atwood's artistry with words. She holds up not a picture for us to view, but a mirror to reflect realities that in many cases no one in their right mind would want to see - they are far too close, too personal, too true. And yet - we MUST look. I do not see, as some others do, a depressing endgame in this book; quite the opposite. Offred's determination to survive no matter what the cost and her slow but relentless growth to her own form of power and eventual rebellion, is not so much a story as a roadmap. We could all do well by, like Offred, looking with clear eyes at this dystopian imagining. If, at the end of the day, this book leaves you uncomfortable or depressed or angry - good, if at the same time it also manages to leave you unsettled. Atwood's intent was never to entertain you but to inform you - and that, she does with a master's deft hand. Three days and counting. What will we learn in Atwood's new book? I look forward, with a perfectly uncomfortable blend of anticipation and anxiety, dread and hope, to the answer to that question.
Review: A Prescient Tale - If you don't already know, this is a dystopian novel (a la Hunger Games ) set somewhere in the near future after there's been a government coup and the new leaders have stripped the rights of women (and any other "minorities"). The handmaids are women who are still able to reproduce after unspecified causes, and their job is to give wealthy husbands and wives children. Offenders to the new government, including gay men and women (just because), are just killed and literally hung out to dry. This tale follows the life of one particular handmaid, Offred. In flashbacks, we are given bits and pieces of her former life before she was a handmaid and before the government coup. Mostly, though, we listen in on her thoughts and watch her interact with people in her daily life. After watching the excellent Hulu series based on Margaret Atwood's book, I had to read the original source material. The series (and concept) is so fascinating (and scary) that I wanted (needed) to see how it compared. Most of all, in the era of "President" Trump, it's a bit too realistic of an idea that's not too hard to imagine actually happening under his Republican regime. This is one case where I thought the movie/show was better than the book. The TV series follows the original book very closely, but goes into so much greater detail, giving us more insight into the characters and society. Of course, Atwood had just 300 pages to fill, whereas the TV series had 10 hour-long episodes. I won't spoil anything, but I will note that the book does end similarly to the season finale of the first season of the TV series. This is my first book of Atwood's, and I can already tell that I want to read more of her many, many novels in the future. She's got some pretty interesting and frightening ideas about alternate futures and realities. Her writing itself is very easy to read, even though there were times in this particular novel where I felt she was rambling and could have given us more information and insight into Offred or society rather than rambling about things we already read before. She also goes back and forth between using quotation marks around spoken words, which is distracting. In some cases, she used them and in others, she didn't. This is a pet peeve of mine; I prefer (and learned in my creative writing and English classes) that all spoken words should be in quotation marks, not just for proper grammar, but because it makes for an easier read, defining exactly what is dialogue and what is descriptive text. "The Handmaid's Tale" is definitely worth a read, but I also highly recommend watching the TV series as well.

## Features

- Great product!

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #567 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Political Fiction (Books) #6 in Dystopian Fiction (Books) #25 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 174,834 Reviews |

## Images

![The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61su39k8NUL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Perfect and prescient for these times. READ it.
*by R***N on September 7, 2019*

I will admit - Over the years, 'Handmaid' was one of those books everyone had told me just HAD to be read - but with the clear discomfort they'd show in saying that, I always thought - Nope; not for me. I'm just not one for the whole dystopian thing; I need to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Fast forward to last week - this book being required for my daughter's Eng Lit class, and sitting available while I was at loose ends in a Starbucks for several hours - I thought, Why not?... and how glad I am, that I had those few hours. Wow. I was gone, hook line and sinker, from the first page on. Handmaid is set in, yes, a dystopian future in which women's place in the world has been subverted, through various events which resonate awfully closely with current times. The story picks up at the moment when Offred (a concatenation of her "owner's" name and her position in this society) is assigned to a new home in a city in America, for reasons that become all too clear within a few short pages. Her experiences within this new environment, interwoven with her recollection of her past before this societal apocalypse, unveil themselves like the layers of an onion - a never-ending interweaving of recollections and current experiences which, in their close parallels with so much that seems to be happening in our current world, make it not just an uncomfortable read, as so many other reviewers have said; but an eerily prescient one for these times. I could go on about that aspect of what makes this such a valuable read for any person over the age of 10 years old, but I'm quite sure many of the 1,000 + prior reviewers will have spoken to that far more effectively than I ever could. But for me, what makes this book so great is the Voice that the protagonist gains as she struggles in such a harsh, unforgiving, and shockingly cruel environment - the brutal honesty with which that voice speaks to the horrors and impossible personal choices that any of us would have to make, faced with such a savagely misogynistic society. There is no turning away from those realities in this book; Offred is, clearly, no better than any of us; but, she is, perhaps, more honest about her choices than any of us would ever manage to be. She has no roads but dead ends; no feelings but pain, isolation, and tragic loss; in a society which both reviles her and yet absolutely, completely, stunningly, needs her. And yet. There is compassion - much compassion - in this book not just for Offred but for each of her persecutors; and a perfectly clear view, of each person in Offred's life, from the patriarchy which dictates every aspect of the lives of the Americans; to the women with whom she is forced to share the household; to the man who runs their lives - and in theory owns Offred, body and soul. Margaret Atwood has managed to capture the complete horror of this situation and yet the complete spectrum of needs and innate humanness - warts and all - of each of the players in this world, speaking with true sight not only about what they each do, but the real WHY of it, like a series of ornate but utterly constrained chess pieces moved about in a deadly game by unseen hands. Atwood's brilliance with the written word, the layers of meaning she assigns to so many individual words, is a both a challenge and a complete delight, no matter how difficult the topics she makes us consider. Each page is like unwrapping a gift of many layers of brightly colored paper, never knowing what you will ultimately find inside: something to treasure, or something to fear. Offred's voice and her observations of self, other, and society are so clear and beautiful, so bleak, sad and yet hopeful - so compelling - in making us see these people. There are many phrases and visions Atwood has generated that will stay with me, now, for life. I cannot say I am in all cases glad of that - but I know i am richer for it. And in reading many of the current, more negative responses of the Amazon reading community, I cannot help but wonder if their dislike of the book is in many cases driven precisely from Atwood's artistry with words. She holds up not a picture for us to view, but a mirror to reflect realities that in many cases no one in their right mind would want to see - they are far too close, too personal, too true. And yet - we MUST look. I do not see, as some others do, a depressing endgame in this book; quite the opposite. Offred's determination to survive no matter what the cost and her slow but relentless growth to her own form of power and eventual rebellion, is not so much a story as a roadmap. We could all do well by, like Offred, looking with clear eyes at this dystopian imagining. If, at the end of the day, this book leaves you uncomfortable or depressed or angry - good, if at the same time it also manages to leave you unsettled. Atwood's intent was never to entertain you but to inform you - and that, she does with a master's deft hand. Three days and counting. What will we learn in Atwood's new book? I look forward, with a perfectly uncomfortable blend of anticipation and anxiety, dread and hope, to the answer to that question.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Prescient Tale
*by E***. on September 1, 2017*

If you don't already know, this is a dystopian novel (a la Hunger Games ) set somewhere in the near future after there's been a government coup and the new leaders have stripped the rights of women (and any other "minorities"). The handmaids are women who are still able to reproduce after unspecified causes, and their job is to give wealthy husbands and wives children. Offenders to the new government, including gay men and women (just because), are just killed and literally hung out to dry. This tale follows the life of one particular handmaid, Offred. In flashbacks, we are given bits and pieces of her former life before she was a handmaid and before the government coup. Mostly, though, we listen in on her thoughts and watch her interact with people in her daily life. After watching the excellent Hulu series based on Margaret Atwood's book, I had to read the original source material. The series (and concept) is so fascinating (and scary) that I wanted (needed) to see how it compared. Most of all, in the era of "President" Trump, it's a bit too realistic of an idea that's not too hard to imagine actually happening under his Republican regime. This is one case where I thought the movie/show was better than the book. The TV series follows the original book very closely, but goes into so much greater detail, giving us more insight into the characters and society. Of course, Atwood had just 300 pages to fill, whereas the TV series had 10 hour-long episodes. I won't spoil anything, but I will note that the book does end similarly to the season finale of the first season of the TV series. This is my first book of Atwood's, and I can already tell that I want to read more of her many, many novels in the future. She's got some pretty interesting and frightening ideas about alternate futures and realities. Her writing itself is very easy to read, even though there were times in this particular novel where I felt she was rambling and could have given us more information and insight into Offred or society rather than rambling about things we already read before. She also goes back and forth between using quotation marks around spoken words, which is distracting. In some cases, she used them and in others, she didn't. This is a pet peeve of mine; I prefer (and learned in my creative writing and English classes) that all spoken words should be in quotation marks, not just for proper grammar, but because it makes for an easier read, defining exactly what is dialogue and what is descriptive text. "The Handmaid's Tale" is definitely worth a read, but I also highly recommend watching the TV series as well.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1986 Novel Must-Read for Today!
*by G***S on April 8, 2024*

I had purchased this book quite some time ago when a friend of mine mention it to me... I had thoughts of Fifty Shades of Grey which I had purchased because another individual had liked it... Let me say right away that I read less than 50 pages of the latter and stopped reading. On the other hand, when in a discussion with a good friend, I was talking about the latest attempt to control women, looking to stop the use of an abortion pill that was been on the market for decades... At that point, she cried "OMG, The Handmaiden is Happening! After that conversation was over and I was home, I pulled up my copy of The Handmaid's Tale. It seemed like I was led to be reading it now... I knew immediately what my friend meant. At the end, I began to read the Historical Notes, but at first overlooked the date 2195... I went in search of what is referred to as the Gileadean Regime. Which was to have been the time during which a religious group had taken over America... Suddenly I had to agree. The Handmaid's Tale was now moving forward as had begun during the beginning of the decade... See my blog post for relevant videos I found... Women have been talking about this book since 2016, in particular! The main character is a young woman, much like my friend, who has a loving husband and a child. Soon, both of them have disappeared and she never sees them again. As we watch the woman, now given another name, she imagines what might have happened to her family. And she strives to remember the past, what was happening in her life and in the world... She is not allowed to have any contact with that world; she remembers though and hopes she will not lose those memories--of Luke, her husband and her child, a little girl... Once during the book, a picture of her daughter was shared by the wife of the man who now owned her... She wants a child enough that she is willing to bargain with his Handmaid... There are three handmaids for his man. We never know exactly who or what he does. It is irrelevant since they are closeted away and are only seen when sex is to occur. Both of the prospective parents are included in this charade... It is described in the book; it is terrible to visualize... And then after been raped by her owner a number of times, she arranges through his driver to have her visit him in his office. Interestingly, he asks her to play a board game... As time goes by, he introduces a magazine no longer in print, having been banned, and allows her to sit in the room to read it; he sits watching her... and they talk. He shares that he and his wife no longer talk to each other like they once did. He misses that. She now talks mostly with the wives of other owners, as they are permitted to interact only with them... It seems that every woman who is living at the time, has been given a job in their new locations... Marthas, for instance are the cooks, obviously named after the two sisters in the Bible, Martha being the one who quickly prepares a meal when Jesus visits... But there is little to do about religion in this world in which has been created... except what is important to ensure that women know their places... the reason seems to be close to what is being spouted now... white women are not now producing enough children... something had to be done... work was no longer possible. The women needed to be free to be available for those times when it was possible to get pregnant. Nothing else mattered. The entire book is centered into one household full of women--and one older man. Other men may work for the man as well; but the women all had specific tasks. And those who "believed" in what was happening were called Aunts; they were to train, supervise, and, if necessary, punish the handmaids. A cow prod was used. Soon the woman who has a new name is comfortable enough with the head of the house to have him ask her if she would like to have an adventure... She is taken to what we would call a brothel, she is dressed for the occasion from old, use, sex-oriented clothing that has been hidden away after all such activities were forbidden in the world... Only men of the Gilead Regime were members of the Club... And, yes, it was a sex club where the leaders of the group participated in their sexual interests--beyond what were performed with the Handmaids... Sound familiar? As you may already have realized, many of the things that were now forbidden for women in the book have already started occurring, based upon the move by a presidential candidate and his followers. There have been many women caught by the state congresses to stop abortions for religious reasons, it seems. I am one of the many Christians who do not accept that the Christian Nationalist Party has anything to do with God our Father... And, for me, Jesus His Son... If you have had any questions regarding this matter, I highly recommend you start reading...before it, too, is banned... The Handmaid's Tale spotlights exactly what will be happening to any woman if the party candidate (or his down-ballot candidates) are elected into office in 2024. In my opinion, there is no better way to see how religion as a single authority results in America going backward in progressive changes made during the last 100 years. Voting will be eliminated... All books of any kind will be removed... Women will be divided into groups, some of whom will be training young women to have unwelcomed sex with their new owner(s). Wives will be...tolerated...or ignored altogether... We have already seen that rape and incest are not to be factors in deciding about having an abortion. Indeed, no medical issues can affect the birth moving to completion, even if the new baby dies in the mother's arms soon thereafter. She will then be expected to begin again to provide a way to provide heirs for old men whose wives are past the age... This book prophesized it; we have not choice as women--we must speak out against it! I consider this a must-read for every woman, and man who will be left without a wife or forced to give up all children from their marriage... Margaret Atwood watched what was happening. She wrote a futuristic novel to illustrate what she foresaw... I, too, believe, "The Handmaid Tale is NOW Happening..." GABixlerReviews

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