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  • The Handmaid's Tale

  • Written by: Margaret Atwood
  • Narrated by: Claire Danes
  • Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (558 ratings)

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The Handmaid's Tale cover art

The Handmaid's Tale

Written by: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Claire Danes
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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.

©1985 Margaret Atwood (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

“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)

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What listeners say about The Handmaid's Tale

Average Customer Ratings
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  • MCK
  • 2019-11-16

Compelling story and perfect narration!

I could not have loved this more. Powerhouse combo of Atwood’s prose and Danes’ performance.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A true classic

Amazing, thoughtful, deep, and very profound. This is obviously a classic. Inspiration for a generation of women. #audible1

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Information parceled out gently&perfectly timed...

The telling of the story was just right. Pieces coming together to form a vision. It felt like I was slowly being boiled alive as the reality of the world at that moment was revealed bit by bit. Genius.

I listened at 1.15x and it was the perfect speed for me. Claire Danes has a lovely voice and it was definitely helpful in bringing the story to life as well as listening for long periods.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Classic! highly recommend

Classic book! I highly recommend it. Love the writing style and performance, it takes a while to get started but it gets really good after the first couple of chapters.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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One of the best books

Such a phenomenal book that I think anyone of voting age needs to read. So much of it can be seen in our current global political landscape.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Better listened to than read.

I have always heard everyone say that it is not an easy hook to read due to the lack of punctuation. Atwood saved this in the Historical Notes, I think, explaining that it is a tape, rather than a diary. Claire Danes narrates it expertly, keeping it easy to follow and setting the tone perfectly. If it wasn’t for the lady chapter this would have gotten a 3 star in story since I found it dragged and I reached a point where I really just wanted it to be over. But the concept is terrifying and catching. Definitely worth a read- or listen to.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A thrilling dystopia!

The best dystopian novels are those that in a way describe our own societies and show to which extent and how fast things can change for the worse. Atwood's description of thoughts, feelings, and the overall psychological state of her characters makes for a very interesting read. Danes' narration adapts Atwood's style almost perfectly to the audiobook format. Thrilling!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Boring and drawn out.

Narrator was good, book was trash. never been so bored. Nothing even happens in the 11 hour audio book. Waste of everyone's time. Buy it if you like hearing an insufferable main character pompously and pretentiously describe her environment in agonizing detail. Who cares? Margaret atwood spends more time explaining what a tulip symbolizes to our main character than actually creating a story where things happen. Because, nothing. even. happens.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read.

Reading by Clair Danes made this story all the better. I was hooked and want to listen to more of Clair and read more Atwood.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favourite books ever!

Quite eerie are the similarities of the time in which this was written to our own 37 years later. Absolutely profound, fascinating, and prophetic.

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