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The Handmaid's TaleStock informationGeneral Fields
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DescriptionThe Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates she will, like all dissenters, be hanged or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men whose future she will change forever. Brilliantly conceived and executed, this powerful evocation of twenty-first century America gives full rein to Margaret Atwood's devastating irony, wit and astute perception. First published 1985. AwardsWinner of Arthur C. Clarke Award 1987. Reviews'Compulsively readable' --Daily Telegraph "The Handmaid's Tale is both a superlative exercise in science fiction and a profoundly felt moral story" -- Angela Carter "Out of a narrative shadowed by terror, gleam sharp perceptions, brilliant intense images and sardonic wit" -- Peter Kemp Independent "The images of brilliant emptiness are one of the most striking aspects of this novel about totalitarian blindness...the effect is chilling" -- Linda Taylor Sunday Times "Powerful...admirable" -- Robert Irwin Time Out "Fiercely political and bleak, yet witting and wise...this novel seems ever more vital in the present day" --Observer |