** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER ****A BBC BETWEEN COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ**Go back to where it all began with the dystopian novel behind the award-winning TV series.''As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it'' GuardianI 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.