Margaret Atwood Collection 3 Books Set - The Handmaids Tale, The Testaments, The Penelopiad

This Margaret Atwood collection brings together three works: The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments and The Penelopiad. Spanning dystopian fiction and myth retelling, the set presents interconnected perspectives on power, storytelling and survival, as described in the accompanying synopses.

The Testaments is presented as a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, returning to Gilead more than 15 years after Offred stepped into the unknown. It is told through the “explosive testaments” of three female narrators from Gilead. Alongside it, The Handmaid’s Tale introduces Offred’s life as a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, while The Penelopiad reimagines Penelope’s story from the underworld.

Included titles

• The Handmaid’s Tale
• The Testaments
• The Penelopiad

Key details

• Three-book collection of Margaret Atwood titles
• Includes a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale
• Features three female narrators in The Testaments
• Includes a retelling centred on Penelope in The Penelopiad

Synopses

The Testaments

Described as a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, this novel returns to Gilead more than 15 years after Offred stepped into the unknown. The story is told through the testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. Assigned to the household of the Commander, she is valued for a single function: to breed, under threat of execution if she refuses. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, she navigates a present shaped by torture and persecution, with her future hanging between two men.

The Penelopiad

Penelope, known in legend as the wife of Odysseus, is reintroduced as she wanders the underworld. From there, she tells her own side of the story, described as a tale of lust, greed and murder.