Braving the Cold for World Book Night
Atwood expresses amazement at the crowd gathered outdoors in Trafalgar Square, noting that it is just as freezing backstage.
Margaret Atwood
Canadian
Born 1939
Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Her best-known work is the 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale.
Her other novels include Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, and The Testaments. Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Order of Canada, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for literature, and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television.
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed 3 of Margaret Atwood's books, including The Testaments, Alias Grace, and The Blind Assassin.
3
Books ReviewedIn Margaret Atwood's own words
Margaret Atwood reads an excerpt from her novel The Blind Assassin at World Book Night 2011 in London.
Uploaded by Hibrow, 2019 · Watch on YouTube ·
Also in conversation
Why Men and Women Should Read Widely
Atwood quips that reading gives men plenty of stories to tell, while it teaches women to recognize when a man is telling a recycled tale.
Inspiration for the Handmaids' costumes
Atwood explains that the handmaid headwear was designed to conceal identity and restrict vision, inspired in part by the bonneted figure on 1940s Old Dutch Cleanser cans.
Starting The Handmaid's Tale in 1984
Atwood recalls beginning the novel while living in West Berlin in 1984, joking that she could not resist the corny impulse to start writing during Orwell's titular year.
Totalitarian policies that inspired the story
Atwood explains that the story drew on real-world policies she observed in Cold War Europe, including Romania's mandatory birth quotas and monthly pregnancy tests under Ceaușescu.
A Canadian view on pride
When asked what she is most proud of in her career, Atwood jokes that Canadians avoid pride and instead settle for what makes them less embarrassed.
Also in this interview
Margaret Atwood books in order
28 books, 1 series; 3 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
MaddAddam3 books
Standalones and other books
1969The Edible WomanAmazon ↗
1973SurfacingAmazon ↗
1976Lady OracleAmazon ↗
1986The Handmaid's TaleAmazon ↗
1989Cat's EyeAmazon ↗
1991Wilderness TipsAmazon ↗
1993The Robber BrideAmazon ↗
1995Morning In The Burned House: PoemsAmazon ↗
1996Our review →
2000Our review →
2001Good Bones and Simple MurdersAmazon ↗
2002Negotiating with the DeadAmazon ↗
2005The PenelopiadAmazon ↗
2014MADDADDAM TRILOGY BOXAmazon ↗
2014Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked TalesAmazon ↗
2015The Heart Goes LastAmazon ↗
2016Hag-SeedAmazon ↗
2019Our review →
2020Dearly: New PoemsAmazon ↗
2022Burning QuestionsAmazon ↗
2023Old Babes in the Wood: StoriesAmazon ↗
2024Fourteen DaysAmazon ↗
2024Paper BoatAmazon ↗
2025Book of LivesAmazon ↗
2027For the BirdsComing soonAmazon ↗
The Testaments
4.6/5
reader rating · 51,254 ratingsMargaret Atwood's The Testaments, the Booker Prize-winning sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, returns to the theocratic republic of Gilead fifteen years on, delivering a thriller-paced narrative through three distinct female voices — Aunt Lydia, Agnes Jemima, and Daisy — whose converging stories expose the regime's internal rot. Now a Hulu Original series, this media tie-in edition from Vintage keeps one of contemporary fiction's most celebrated sequels firmly in the spotlight.
Reviewed Jun 23, 2026
Alias Grace
4.3/5
reader rating · 12,248 ratingsAlias Grace is Margaret Atwood's historical fiction novel fictionalizing the 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery in Canada West, centered on convicted servant Grace Marks and the fictional psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan who interviews her years into her life sentence. It won the Giller Prize, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and stands as one of Atwood's most celebrated works of long-form fiction.
Reviewed Oct 20, 2026
The Blind Assassin
4.2/5
reader rating · 6,761 ratingsMargaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin is a structurally daring, prize-winning novel that weaves multiple narratives across twentieth-century Canada, earning the Booker Prize in 2000 and a place on Time magazine's list of the 100 greatest English-language novels since 1923 — though its deliberate coldness and considerable length are not for every reader.
Reviewed Jul 7, 2026
Ask LuvemBooks about Margaret Atwood
Across the three books we've reviewed, Margaret Atwood demonstrates a consistent technique of structuring novels around layered, often unreliable voices: The Testaments is told through three converging female narrators whose accounts expose the regime of Gilead from within, Alias Grace builds its suspense from a convicted servant's interviews with a psychiatrist, and The Blind Assassin weaves multiple narratives across twentieth-century Canada. Readers have responded strongly to this approach — The Testaments holds a 4.6/5 reader rating from over 51,000 Amazon ratings, with Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin close behind at 4.3/5 and 4.2/5.
- Where should I start?
- The Testaments is the most reader-validated entry point among the three books we've reviewed, carrying a 4.6/5 reader rating from over 51,000 Amazon ratings — the strongest score and the largest rating pool of the three. Its thriller-paced narrative, told through three distinct female voices, also makes it the most propulsive read of the group. That said, if you prefer historical fiction grounded in real events, Alias Grace (4.3/5 reader rating) is an equally strong starting point.
- What's their writing style?
- Across the three books we've reviewed, Atwood favors complex narrative structures built from distinct voices. The Testaments unfolds through three converging female narrators — Aunt Lydia, Agnes Jemima, and Daisy — at a thriller's pace, while Alias Grace reconstructs an 1843 double murder through interviews between convicted servant Grace Marks and a fictional psychiatrist. The Blind Assassin is the most structurally ambitious, weaving multiple narratives across twentieth-century Canada, though our review notes its tone is deliberately cold.
- Books we've reviewed
- We've reviewed 3 Margaret Atwood books. The Testaments (4.6/5 reader rating) is the Booker Prize-winning sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, told through three converging female voices in a Gilead whose internal rot is showing. Alias Grace (4.3/5 reader rating) fictionalizes the real 1843 Kinnear-Montgomery murders through the testimony of convicted servant Grace Marks. The Blind Assassin (4.2/5 reader rating) is a structurally daring Booker winner weaving multiple narratives across twentieth-century Canada.
- How do their books compare?
- The three reviewed books share Atwood's layered, voice-driven storytelling but differ in genre and texture. The Testaments is dystopian fiction with a thriller pace and the highest reader rating (4.6/5), Alias Grace is historical fiction rooted in a real 1843 murder case (4.3/5 reader rating), and The Blind Assassin is literary fiction with the most complex structure (4.2/5 reader rating). If you want momentum, start with The Testaments; if you want ambition, The Blind Assassin is the most formally daring — though its length and coldness won't suit everyone.
- What genre do they write?
- Margaret Atwood resists a single label. The three books we've reviewed span dystopian fiction (The Testaments), historical fiction (Alias Grace), and literary fiction (The Blind Assassin). The common thread across all three is structural ambition and morally complex female narrators rather than any one genre.
- Are any books being adapted?
- Yes. The Testaments is now a Hulu Original series, and the edition we've reviewed is the TV tie-in from Vintage. It's the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, returning to Gilead fifteen years later through three new narrators.
- What should I read after The Testaments?
- Of the books we've reviewed, Alias Grace is the natural next step if you want more of Atwood's interest in women telling their own stories under pressure — this time through a convicted servant's account of a real 1843 murder. If you'd rather test the limits of their formal ambition, The Blind Assassin offers the most intricate structure, weaving multiple narratives across twentieth-century Canada. Both hold reader ratings above 4.2/5 on Amazon.
Who is Margaret Atwood?
Where should I start?
What's their writing style?
Books we've reviewed
How do their books compare?
What genre do they write?
Are any books being adapted?
What should I read after The Testaments?
Who is Margaret Atwood?
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and inventor, best known for The Handmaid's Tale. Their body of work spans dystopian fiction, historical fiction, and literary fiction, with major recognition including the Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin in 2000 and the Booker Prize for The Testaments. Alias Grace, another of their most celebrated works, won the Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker.
Follow up
What is Margaret Atwood's most famous book?
What awards has Margaret Atwood won?
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