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)

Not the whole story you see on tv.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio.It gets high marks on all accounts. I was a big fan of the TV series. I was expecting this to be the same but it ends way short. I did appreciate the Historical Notes at the end. if you like the series you may be disappointed and feel as though you did not get enough of the story in this book. I am glad that I listen to it. I enjoyed it immensely.

Great read/listen!

The narrator did an amazing job , the author created such a vivid world. I wished for a better ending but the authors details make up for it 100 times over ! Definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Great

This is a great book. Also good narration. I am definitely happy I listened to it.

Great book

This was a really great book. Reminds me of scarlet letter. It does have a little too much fluff in the middle, but it's a great read.

I only hope that Ms Atwood is not a fortune teller

When Margaret Atwood wrote this 21 years ago, I was intrigued by the imagination of the tale. Now, a generation later I listened to it, The Handmaid's Tale filled me with Orwellian terror. Our society and its systems have moved so much closer to the dystopia she describes.

Bummer Alert....Sad, deeply disturbing tale

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Incredibly descriptive, first-person style -extremely compelling performance by Claire Danes. Her narration was gritty, heartbreaking & so convincing that it depressed the hell out of me! Half way through I almost put it down but I felt compelled to finish the book because I admired the author's command of the language...& I had no idea where this tale would lead.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story depicts a future world, ruled by Men - where women are either forced baby-makers, whores or expendable slaves of the state....no chance of making this subject matter more enjoyable.

What does Claire Danes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Claire Danes gave a compelling voice to this lonely, nameless character . Much of the dialogue was a conversation with herself - which she did very convincingly. Her narration was spot on. It was the nature of the story that made this book hard to enjoy.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

The book ends abruptly & you're left in "mid-air". I wish the epilog would have been more informative & not so "academic". This was the first book that I purchased without reading a review. I don't think I'll do that again!

Loved this book!

I love her voice and her ability to give voice to different characters. The story is also very captivating. Very sad and depressing but beautifully written.

WHAT IS THE BIZARRE POINT?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, at the end I just felt empty and wondered what the objective was of this story that just fell flat.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I keep waiting on something to twist or turn and it never really did master a complete story.

Which character – as performed by Claire Danes – was your favorite?

Offred

Do you think The Handmaid's Tale needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Definitely not. Where would it go - more of the same mundane actions?

Any additional comments?

I don't usually write reviews but the bizarre context of this story makes you wonder where some authors get their story lines. I prefer a read that leaves you with an ending albeit sad or happy. I just did not get the point of this book at all.

Fabulous.

Just finished listening to the handmaids tale on audiobooks- great novel- love how it was written. The little details in the descriptions of people and places are fabulous. (And I'm a big fan of Clare Danes, the narrator!) Keep thinking about how far off this is from some societies in the world... and our own. So thought provoking.

Great story but....

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... except for the ending. It was like the author just ran out time or got bored and decided to just end the book.

If you're looking for a story with any closure... this ain't it.