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The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (The New York Times).

Now an award-winning Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss. Look for _The Testaments_, the bestselling, award-winning sequel to _The Handmaid’s Tale_.

In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women.

Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive.

At once a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense, _The Handmaid’s Tale_ is a modern classic. Includes an introduction by Margaret Atwood.

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[I think this book is going to change the world. Please be a part of it.](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/PVpUlewgmbA19TKDddU9/)

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Dec 7 2025](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[Want a peak at the cover of our newest Dystopian book?](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/Bt2RDZ8BxmsCeF1E58KB/)

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Jan 6 2025](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[Writing From The Human Experience](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/6O8erA7V4dPsCyiYsOP8/)

Witnessing violence, while eye-opening, is not enough to really incentivize people to pursue change. They also have to see the humanity of the people experiencing that violence. And that needs to be reflected in our writing.

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Nov 26 2024](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[How white authors are ruining dystopian literature](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/SU2NZHVsZarqvDY2JErn/)

I am being criticized again for asking white authors not to erase Black people in their stories. So... let's talk about it. What is the point of dystopian literature and how are white authors failing us all?

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Feb 12 2024](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[Is Parable of the Sower better than Handmaids Tale](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/RbnwbX3KVyn8XnfxhiBz/)

Replying to @Revelin Dares #booktok #blackbooktok #readwithmichael #writewithmichael #readingispolitical #writingispolitical #bipocauthors #indiebooks #octaviabutler #parableofthesower #handmaidstale

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Posts about this book from across Bindery

[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• May 18](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[I think this book is going to change the world. Please be a part of it.](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/PVpUlewgmbA19TKDddU9/)

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Here is my completed list of fantasy and scifi books written by women that aren’t Romantasy! #books #booktok #bookstagram #booksta #bookworm #fantasybooks #fantasy #scifi #Romantasy #womenauthors

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Dec 7 2025](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

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[Alysha Fortune Reads\\
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Alysha\\
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• Nov 4 2025](https://alyshafortunereads.binderybooks.com/)

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[Here are 7 dystopian/scifi books that have some very important themes and will make you feel like an intellectual](https://alyshafortunereads.binderybooks.com/item/PrezMxG49X1h7zdkL17G/)

Here are 7 dystopian/scifi books that have some very important themes and will make you feel like an intellectual after reading them! These are not necessarily hard reads, they are very enjoyable but they are for sure written to make you think! #books #booktok #bookstagram #booksta #bookworm #scifi #dystopian #bookrecs

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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Jun 13 2025](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[Why Black Horror Matters](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/5EALCa3H04S0LDugZROc/)

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[Reads with Rachel\\
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Rachel\\
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• May 1 2025](https://readswithrachel.binderybooks.com/)

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[Left Unread Books\\
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Michael LaBorn\\
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• Jan 6 2025](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

[Writing From The Human Experience](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/item/6O8erA7V4dPsCyiYsOP8/)

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[Sickos! What kinda wacky adventures are you getting yourself into this week? I’m going to go over what I’m reading/watching/playing/doing etc etc but first I want to welcome all the new folk that have joined us! Take a look around the place, check out where all my recs go in my dynamic library, and come join the hundreds of us hanging out in the Sickos Discord if you’re up for it!\\
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Yesterday I announced that I’m moving the History Sickos and Fantasy Sickos book clubs from Fable to our Discord server. Our votes for January just went live, which you can participate in until the clubs get rolled into the overall subscription service on January 1st.\\
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**What I’m reading…**\\
Nearing the halfway point of Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara, which is an exposé on the mining of cobalt in the Congo. I’m a third of the way into The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, which is about a dystopian future where women are forced to live as sex slaves in a totalitarian society. After those I’m going to settle into to Mad Ship (#2 Liveship Traders, Robin Hobb) for the rest of the month.\\
\\
**What I’m watching…**\\
Currently Augustus is dominating the TV with the first two Sonic movies. We just saw Sonic 3 in the theater (pretty good!). I’ll have football on all day while I read, especially if the Eagles are annoying me. I’ve been re-watching The Handmaid’s Tale series while reading the book since from what I understand season 1 is a pretty faithful adaptation with some minor tweaks (like expanding on Offred’s backstory, Serena Joy’s age, diversity in the cast, etc). This is holding up my watch of Arcane S2, or maybe I’m just being a coward.\\
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**What I’m playing…**\\
I did it. I started a new save of Red Dead Redemption 2. I only got as far as the John/wolves mission but I can very strongly feel the urge to play this again.\\
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**What I’m doing…**\\
Trying to fit in a few workouts this week while working around holidays and making/planning content. Speaking of which, I’m gonna get a lift in now and when I’m done I’ll probably finish writing up a Ship of Magic (#1 Liveship Traders) review for y’all before getting into football/reading. Happy Holidays to everyone!!\\
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• Nov 26 2024](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

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[The Black Bird Commons\\
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• Sep 8 2024](https://blackbirdcommons.binderybooks.com/)

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[Episode 9: Sophie Mackintosh](https://blackbirdcommons.binderybooks.com/item/3DZoF6XMDhHUL9v6DUwx/)

Sophie Mackintosh joins me for Episode 9 of Tim Blackett & Friends to talk about her Booker Longlisted novel, The Water Cure, as well as her latest novel, Cursed Bread, and Blue Ticket.

We chatted about a lot of things: Borrowing from genre fiction to write her literary novels, being compared to Margaret Atwood and other literary giants, and the relationship between love, intimacy and violence.

I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I have.

For those interested in Bonus (and Exclusive) Material: Mackintosh has agreed to add to my Bonus Audio Archive with a reading from the early pages of Cursed Bread. This is available in the Friend Tier of my Bindery @ BlackKitBooks.Binderybooks.com

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[Left Unread Books\\
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• Feb 12 2024](https://leftunreadbooks.binderybooks.com/)

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[A Life of Literature\\
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Mireille & Elodie\\
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• Sep 18 2023](https://alifeofliterature.binderybooks.com/)

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[When Margaret Atwood signed my copy of "The Handmaid's Tale"](https://alifeofliterature.binderybooks.com/item/1hLzvlUepWX7VVHthgoJ/)

Mireille met Margaret Atwood at the Hay Literary Festival and asked her to sign her copy of The Handmaid's Tale that she's using for A Level English Literature. What a moment!

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