Margaret Atwood to release 'Handmaid's Tale' sequel

Success of 'The Handmaid's Tale' is amplified by wild popularity of Hulu series adapted from the novel

OTTAWA: Canadian author Margaret Atwood said on Wednesday she will publish a sequel to her novel "The Handmaid's Tale" next year, taking readers deeper into her vision of a dystopian America ruled by a misogynistic theocracy.

Atwood said the new book, "The Testaments," will pursue unresolved narratives in the original 1985 novel, delving into the "inner workings" of the fictional nation of Gilead.

Yes indeed to those who asked: I’m writing a sequel to The #HandmaidsTale. #TheTestaments is set 15 years after Offred’s final scene and is narrated by three female characters. It will be published in Sept 2019. More details: https://t.co/e1umh5FwpX pic.twitter.com/pePp0zpuif

— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) November 28, 2018

"The other inspiration is the world we've been living in," the celebrated novelist said in a video message posted on Twitter.

"The Testaments is set 15 years after (lead character) Offred's final scene and is narrated by three female characters," the celebrated author said on Twitter.

It will be published in September 2019.

The success of "The Handmaid's Tale" has been amplified by the wild popularity of the Hulu series adapted from the novel. It first aired in 2017 just as liberal America was coming to terms with the presidency of Donald Trump.

Atwood's nightmare of an America transformed into a totalitarian society, where women are reduced to sexual slavery, quickly became a parable to many about the political shift to the right and the national reckoning about sexual abuse.

Since then, female protesters all over the world have donned the red habit and white bonnet worn on TV by the persecuted women of Gilead — at abortion rallies in Buenos Aires and Dublin, at anti-Trump rallies in Warsaw, and against the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court.