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Margaret Atwood is Writing a Sequel to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale are in for some exciting news! Margaret Atwood, the author of the best-selling dystopian novel that inspired the award-winning Hulu series, has confirmed that she is writing a sequel titled The Testaments. The follow-up will take place fifteen years after Offred’s ambiguous final scene and will be narrated by three female characters.

Atwood announced the news on her Twitter account, revealing that the book will be available September 2019. “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,” her statement said.

The Handmaid’s Tale’s original publisher McClelland & Stewart in Canada has once again acquired the rights for the book and will publish simultaneously with Penguin Random House.

[row]”As the enormous recent success of The Handmaid’s Tale has reminded us, Margaret Atwood is one of the greatest writers and most relevant thinkers of our time. To return with her to Gilead is a rare gift, and all of us at Penguin Random House Canada and McClelland & Stewart are very proud to continue our long relationship with Margaret, and excited to publish this brilliant next chapter in a story that has captivated Canadian readers for decades,” Kristin Cochrane, Penguin Random House Canada CEO, said. [/row]

The Handmaid’s Tale, which was published in 1985, follows a woman named Offred, who along with other fertile women, is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship in a dystopian future. It was first adapted into a 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson and Faye Dunaway and in 2017 Hulu adapted it into an original series starring Elisabeth Moss that has gone on to win 11 Emmy Awards. The Testaments will not be related to the series.

The Testaments will hit shelves on September 10, 2019, and you can grab a copy of the first Handmaid’s Tale novel here!*

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