Best books by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian author and poet. Her remarkable fictional work is mainly written from a feminist perspective of the world and human behavior.

Here you’ll find Margaret Atwood’s best novels and further information about one of the most influential voices in modern fiction.

Who is Margaret Atwood?

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ontario, Canada. From a young age, she had a passion for writing. However, she only pursued a writing career after graduating from Victoria College in Toronto. She also earned an English Literature master’s degree from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Her first books were poetry collections, including Double Persephone, published in 1961, and Circle Game in 1964. Atwood’s literary work is famous for studying human behavior and new beginnings from the author’s feminist perspective.

Atwood’s most famous historical fiction work is The Handmaid’s Tale. Since its publication in 1985, the novel has been adapted into a film released in 1990 and an opera in 2000. Most recently, The Handmaid’s Tale became a hit TV show on Hulu.

Alias Grace, published in 1996, was also adapted into a film produced by Netflix.

The author’s publications include non-fiction books such as Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. Additionally, she’s published short stories, children’s books, and graphic novel series, some of which are based on her bestselling books.

Throughout her career, Atwood has received multiple awards for her contribution to literature, including the Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin in 2000.

The best Margaret Atwood books

If you’re interested in Margaret Atwood’s work, here’s a list of her best books that you should add to your reading list.

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale follows the story of Offred in a dystopian future. Due to the declining number of birthrates, the ruling class enslaves fertile women to produce children.

Through her torment, Offred tries to hang onto the little memories of her time in freedom. The memory of her happy life with her husband and daughter is the only thing that keeps her going.

Alias Grace

Alias Grace is the story of a young woman named Grace Marks, who’s been convicted of murdering her boss and his housekeeper and mistress. However, Grace claims she doesn’t remember the murders.

Now serving a life sentence in Toronto’s lunatic asylum, only one person seems willing to help her: Dr. Simon Jordan. He listens to Grace’s story, including her emigration from Ireland and uneasy relationship between her boss and his maid. All Dr. Jordan needs to do is keep pushing her memory to find out about the murders.

The Blind Assassin

The Blind Assassin is a story within a story that begins with the mysterious death of Laura Chase in 1945. Decades later, her sister Iris recollects memories from her childhood, her wealthy family, and her sister’s life, including the infamous novel that made her name.

Among the tales from her childhood, Iris shares chapters of her sister’s novel about two lovers and the story of a blind killer.

The Testaments

The story is set 15 years after the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The Republic of Gilead is still under a totalitarian regime, but different signs indicate the system is weakening from within.

In these challenging times, three very different women come together. While two have come of age in the established order, the third, Aunt Lydia, has a far more complex past they’ll need to uncover.

Cat’s Eye

Cat’s Eye features a Canadian painter named Elaine Risley, returning to her hometown to find herself. Not long after arriving in Toronto, childhood memories start haunting her, including those of her closest friends, from whom she learned about friendship and betrayal.

Oryx and Crake

Snowman, also known as Jimmy, is the last person alive in the world after it’s been devastated by a plague. However, he’s not alone, as the world is full of crakers, genetically modified beings created by his friend Crake.

While mourning the loss of Crake and the beautiful Oryx, he decides to embark on a journey. He will travel across a country that used to be a beautiful place to live before corporations chose to play with humankind.

The Robber Bride

The Robber Bride is about three university friends reuniting for a classmate’s funeral. Over several lunch meetings, the women remember how Zenia was before she died, a talented woman who nevertheless cheated and exploited people’s weaknesses.

When one of them catches sight of the supposedly dead woman, the three women suspect even her death has been one of Zenia’s speculative fictions.

The Edible Woman

The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood’s first novel, was published in 1969. Marian McAlpin is a recent graduate with a regular job, a few friends, and a dependable boyfriend. Her life seems to be normal.

However, a marriage proposal changes everything. After accepting to marry her boyfriend, Peter, she can’t seem to eat. It all started with a steak that made her stay away from meat altogether, but as the story progresses, she finds herself unable to consume anything.

The Year of the Flood

The Year of the Flood is the second installment of the Maddaddam trilogy. It follows the events of Oryx and Crake from the perspective of a religious cult. The leader of the cult, Adam One, had predicted the destruction of the earth and devoted his life to preserving plant and animal life.

As Adam One and his followers travel through this new world, a group of survivors has to decide if they stay locked down or go outside and face the new world.

Dearly

Dearly is Atwood’s comeback to poetry. The author explores the nature of the human body and mind, which are constantly changing, and the routines that keep us rooted in the present.

Honorable mentions

If you liked Margaret Atwood’s best books, here are some other novels to add to your must-read list:

• Hag-Seed
• Life Before Man
• Bodily Harm
• The Penelopiad
• The Heart Goes Last
• Surfacing

Find Margaret Atwood on Speechify Audiobooks

If you enjoy fictional novels, you’ll love the extensive audiobook catalog available at Speechify. With thousands of titles available for streaming, you’ll find some of the most influential authors of all time and new voices.

If you like listening to books while doing other chores, Speechify Audiobooks is the perfect online platform for you. Find the book you’d like to listen to and stream it from your computer or cellphone.

Visit Speechify and enjoy the best stories, including Dearly by Margaret Atwood.

FAQ

What is Margaret Atwood’s bestselling book?

Atwood’s bestselling novel is The Handmaid’s Tale.

What are Margaret Atwood’s most notable works?

One of Margaret Atwood’s most notable works is Hag-Seed, a retelling of William Shakespeare’s famed work, The Tempest.

What should I read if I like Margaret Atwood?

If you enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s work, there are other famous writers you need to check out, including Never Let Me Go by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishurugo and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.

What book should I read after The Handmaid’s Tale?

After The Handmaid’s Tale, you should read The Testaments, a sequel set decades later in the Republic of Gilead.