Margaret Atwood Announces Sequel To ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

Margaret Atwood, the author responsible for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has announced that she is working on a sequel to be released next year!

The sequel will be titled ‘The Testaments,’ and will take place 15 years after Offred’s time in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ This time, the novel will be narrated by three female characters unlike the solo voice of Offred from the first novel.

In a recent statement on her Twitter, Atwood said:

“Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.”

For those unfamiliar with ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ the dystopian novel is set in the future where the United States has been replaced by an oppressive, theocratic government that forces fertile women to bear children for those in power. Those Handmaids, mainly Offred, are the center of the story, and readers follow their tense and heartbreaking fight for survival and escape.

Atwood’s novel was first published in 1985, but Hulu’s TV series based on the story brought the book back into the spotlight. That, and the fact that many feel that the events in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ are not that far off from where we are now.

The book’s publisher, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, an imprint of Penguin Random House, has spoken about the upcoming project, and the joy that Atwood’s words bring to those around her, saying:

“I have published Margaret Atwood’s work since 1976 – her poetry, fiction and nonfiction. A manuscript from her is always a reason for joy. She writes wonderfully and has a mind like a steel trap. This new book is no exception.”

‘The Testaments’ will be published on September 10, 2019.