Who wrote the novel 'The Handmaid's Tale'?

Margaret Atwood wrote the novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

The Canadian author published the dystopian novel in 1985. It imagines a near-future New England transformed into the Republic of Gilead, a patriarchal theocracy that has overthrown the United States government and stripped women of legal and economic rights.

The narrator, known as Offred, is assigned to a Commander’s household as a Handmaid. Because Gilead faces declining fertility, Handmaids are forced to bear children for elite couples. The name “Offred” reflects the regime’s practice of identifying Handmaids through the first name of the Commander they serve.

The novel is often confused with its 2017 television adaptation, but Atwood’s book came first and served as the source material. It was followed by The Testaments in 2019, another novel set in Gilead. Atwood’s story is also notable for its “Historical Notes” epilogue, which presents Offred’s account as a document studied centuries later.