Hundreds of Margaret Atwood fans queued into the night to be among the first to get a copy of her new book.
Bookshops opened at midnight to sell The Testaments, the sequel to her 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. It has already been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and is expected to be an instant best-seller.
About 400 fans — some wearing the handmaids’ uniform of white bonnets and long red capes — crammed into Waterstones in Piccadilly to hear the Canadian author read the opening pages.
Alex Scrivener, 30, came from Bristol to get her copy and said the first novel had been a big influence on her. She said: “It’s harrowing but realistic. It’s not unbelievable in some respects and for a female audience it feels more relevant than ever.”
The Handmaid’s Tale gained more acclaim after being made into a TV series starring Elisabeth Moss. The Testaments is also going to be adapted for television. Sophie Waddy, 27, from south London, has taken today off to read the book and said it was “really exciting” to hear Atwood read from it. She said: “The Handmaid’s Tale came out before I was born so it feels like quite a momentous occasion.”
Fans gathered outside the book chain’s shop in High Street Kensington included New Yorker Jennifer Weiss-Wolf who said: “I remember reading The Handmaid’s Tale when it first came out and loved every page, and I think this will be the same.”
Gemma Perry, 31, said: “I used to go to the midnight launches of the Harry Potter books when I was younger. I felt a bit like a kid again being here tonight.”
Waterstones boss James Daunt said: “She is not just The Handmaid’s Tale, she is an extraordinary writer. Margaret Atwood is a guaranteed best-seller.”
