Author Margaret Atwood today confirmed she is writing a long awaited sequel to her celebrated 1985 book The Handmaid's Tale.
The sequel, The Testaments, will be published on 10th September 2019.
In a message on Twitter, Atwood wrote' "Dear Readers, everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book.
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"Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in."
The author also revealed the book will be set 15 years after Offred's final scene and narrated by three female characters though she hasn't confirmed who they will be.
Atwood's original much celebrated novel, published in 1985, was turned into an award winning series starring Elisabeth Moss which recently finished its second series.
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Season two of the television series diverged from the original books and moved the lead character Offred into territory not covered in the book.
In the book, Offred's story ended when she was taken away in a van by those believed to be members of the resistance. Readers never found out what happened to her.
Becky Hardie, deputy publishing director of UK publishers Chatto & Windus, said: "As a society, we've never needed Margaret Atwood more.
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"The moment the van door slams on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale is one of the most brilliantly ambiguous endings in literature. I cannot wait to find out what's been going on in Atwood's Gilead - and what that might tell us about our own times."
Atwood has not yet confirmed whether Offred or any of the original book's characters will appear or be the narrators.
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