Best-Selling Author's Recently Banned Novel Ranked Among ‘Best Books Ever'
On April 17, 1985, Margaret Atwood introduced readers to the Republic of Gilead. We have not stopped reeling since.
The Handmaid's Tale has not been out of print since it was first published, selling millions of copies worldwide and appearing in multiple languages and editions. Widely celebrated as one of the best novels ever written, it ranks among the "Best Books Ever" list on Goodreads and continues to remain relevant with its themes of oppression and resistance echoing the world outside our front doors.
Set in a near dystopian future, the novel unfurls through a handmaid named Offred who has been forced into sexual servitude amid a fertility crisis in what has become a totalitarian, theocratic state replacing the United States of America. Over the course of 311 pages, Offred plots to get back to her previous life, especially her husband, Luke, and young daughter, Hannah.
It's a premise that sounds as wild as it could come true. Using what the author calls "speculative fiction," Atwood crafted her story around historical precedent, drawing from the horrors of ritualized rape in the Bible, the women forced to be subservient in New Jersey's People of Hopecult of 1975, the restrictions enforced during the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, and so much more.
The first in a two-book series, The Handmaid's Tale is followed by The Testaments, published in 2019. Both books were adapted for the small screen, with Hulu turning Atwood's thought-provoking first novel into six seasons of gripping television.
"When it first came out it was viewed as being far-fetched," Atwood told The Guardian about Hulu's Handmaid's Tale series. "However, when I wrote it I was making sure I wasn't putting anything into it that humans had not already done somewhere at some time."
Hulu's adaptation of Atwood's joint 2019 Booker Prize winner, The Testaments, premiered earlier this month, dropping the first three episodes immediately, with subsequent episodes following a weekly schedule.
Despite multiple bannings of The Handmaid's Tale, increasing in intensity between 2021 and 2023in states including Texas, Georgia, and Idaho, The Handmaid's Tale remains just as controversial -- and just as difficult to silence.
The Handmaid's Tale is available at bookshop.org.
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 4:56 PM.