** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER ** **A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ** Discover the cultural phenomenon behind the award-winning TV series that feels all the more powerful and prescient in a post-Roe vs. Wade world. 'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather; no shadow unless there is also light. Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead; a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander; Fred Waterford - her assigned name; Offred; means 'of Fred'. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world; she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks; Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day; and between two men upon which her future hangs. Masterfully conceived and executed; this haunting vision of the future places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian fiction. 'A fantastic; chilling story. And so powerfully feminist'; Bernardine Evaristo; author of Girl; Woman; Other.