Book Club: Handmaid's Tale

In collaboration with the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Public Library presents a special book club event featuring Margaret Atwood’s landmark novel The Handmaid's Tale. This unique literary and cultural experience anticipates the opera's powerful performance of the story.

Examine the themes, characters, and dystopian world of Atwood’s story. 

The San Francisco Opera’s adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale, by Poul Ruders and Paul Bentley, is based on Atwood’s novel. In a dystopian future, women are forced into childbearing servitude by an extremist theocratic regime. Escape is nearly impossible—but Offred, a handmaid, is determined to find a way back to her child, no matter the cost. This intense operatic drama, with Poul Ruders’ evocative score, creates one of the most impactful operas of the late twentieth century.

This is a wonderful opportunity to experience The Handmaid's Tale in a new light and to discuss its enduring relevance with fellow literature and opera enthusiasts. Don’t miss this chance to engage with a groundbreaking novel and its operatic adaptation in an enriching and collaborative setting.

Space limited. Reservations required. 

Free copies of the book are available to attendees prior to the event (while supplies last).

The San Francisco Opera performance of The Handmaid’s Tale begins September 14. 

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