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"Yes indeed to those who asked: I'm writing a
sequel to The #HandmaidsTale," Atwood wrote on her Twitter
account.
Called "The Testaments," the novel will be set 15 years after
the events depicted in "The Handmaid's Tale" and will be
narrated by three female characters, Atwood wrote in a Twitter
posting. The book is due to be published in September 2019 by
Penguin Random House, a division of Germany's Bertelsmann.
"The Handmaid's Tale," a bleak vision of a near future in an
American society called Gilead where women are banned from
reading and writing, have their children taken away from them,
and are forced into sexual servitude by a patriarchal
dictatorship, was first published in 1985.
Its adaptation for television on streaming service Hulu last
year brought new acclaim and multiple Emmy awards for the
performance by Elisabeth Moss as lead character Offred.
"Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner
workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost
everything," Atwood wrote in a video message on Twitter.
"The other inspiration is the world we've been living in," she
added, without elaborating.
Feminists in several nations have adopted the striking red gowns
and white bonnets worn by the handmaids in the book and
television series to highlight women's rights at protests and
marches.
Atwood, 79, said her sequel will not be related to the Hulu
television series of "The Handmaid's Tale," whose second season
earlier this year moved beyond the author's original book.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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