Handmaid's Tale Sequel Coming, 'Unconnected' to Show

Margaret Atwood's new book will be released next year
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 28, 2018 1:48 PM CST
Margaret Atwood Writing Handmaid's Tale Sequel
Margaret Atwood arrives at the 16th Annual Hammer Museum Gala in the Garden on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

More than three decades later, fans who were left hanging at the end of The Handmaid's Tale are getting a sequel from author Margaret Atwood. The Testaments, set 15 years after the events of Handmaid, will be released next September, Atwood and her publisher announced Wednesday. The Testaments will be "unconnected" to the Hulu series based on Handmaid, per a press release obtained by CNN; the third season of the Hulu show is currently in production, and the series has already gone beyond the plotline depicted in Atwood's book, which was published in 1985.

The Testaments "is set 15 years after Offred’s final scene and is narrated by three female characters," Atwood tweeted. She added in a statement, "Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." (Handmaid's Tale wine, however, is not a thing.)

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