Margaret Atwood: Handmaid's Tale has got 'a lot closer to reality'

It has been more than 30 years since Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale, her novel which has also been turned into a TV series.

But the author says her characters have a new resonance because of threats to women's rights, including in the United States.

The sequel, which is due to be published on Tuesday and has been nominated for the Booker Prize, returns to the Republic of Gilead - a dystopian future America - 15 years after the events of the first book.

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