<Tr> <Th> Pages </Th> <Td> 311 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> ISBN </Th> <Td> 0 - 7710 - 0813 - 9 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Handmaid's Tale is a 1985 dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood . Set in a near - future New England, in a totalitarian, Christian theonomy that has overthrown the United States government, the novel explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain individualism and independence . The novel's title echoes the component parts of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, which is a series of connected stories ("The Merchant's Tale", "The Parson's Tale", etc .). </P> <P> The Handmaid's Tale is structured into two parts, night and other various events . This novel can be interpreted as a double narrative, Offred's tale, and the Handmaid's tales . The night sections are solely about Offred, and the other sections (shopping, waiting room, household etc .) are the stories that describe the possible life of every Handmaid . </P>

Where is handmaid's tale supposed to take place