The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: audiobook vs book, which should you choose?
Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, tells of the life she is forced into and the one she lost. Elisabeth Moss’s award-winning reading leans it towards listening.
Content note: sources list enforced surrogacy, sexual coercion and violence against women among the novel’s themes. This page does not describe them.
Listen on Audible
Listen to The Handmaid’s Tale for Elisabeth Moss, who plays Offred in the TV series and reads the whole novel here, in a recording that won Best Audiobook (Fiction) at the New York Festivals Radio Awards 2020. Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford then read the Historical Notes, so you hear the shift to the closing section. Print is a fair choice too: Offred’s story moves back and forth between Gilead and her memories.
Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission, at no cost to you. It never changes a verdict.
Do you agree with this verdict?
We said listen on Audible. One tap, no sign-up.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | Elisabeth Moss (UK), our verdict | Claire Danes Special Edition (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Elisabeth Moss, with Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford | Claire Danes, full cast |
| Length | 11 hours 22 minutes (11h 22m), unabridged | 12 hours 6 minutes (12h 6m), unabridged |
| At 1.5x | about 7h 35m | about 8h 4m |
| At 2x | about 5h 41m | about 6h 3m |
| Audio publisher and date | Vintage Digital (Penguin Audio), 30 April 2019 | Audible Studios, 4 April 2017 |
| Audiobook price | £12.06 on Audible UK | $21.24 on Audible US |
| Kindle price | £5.99 on Amazon UK | Not listed |
| Vintage paperback, 320 pages, 1996 | Vintage paperback, 337 pages, 1998 | |
| Listener rating | Performance 4.74 from 6,395 ratings | Performance 4.64 from 33,172 ratings |
Elisabeth Moss’s 2019 recording and Claire Danes’s 2017 Special Edition both have one main reader for Offred’s story plus other voices for the closing material, so they tie on production. The newer one, which is also the one sold on Audible UK, is the one scored. The Special Edition is sold on Audible US only, and its larger cast mainly performs material Atwood added in 2017.
Claire Danes also recorded the novel alone in 2012 (Audible US, 11h 1m), and Betty Harris recorded an unabridged version for Recorded Books in 1988. A 98-minute bonus release read by Margaret Atwood holds extra material, not the novel. Ratings and prices checked 6 November 2026. Prices change often. US Kindle prices are left out, as Amazon only shows them to US visitors.
Lengths checked 6 November 2026. Speed times are calculated.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood
- Genre
- Dystopian fiction
- First published
- 1985
- Length
- 320 pages (UK paperback)
- On audio
- 11 hrs 22 mins, Elisabeth Moss, with Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford
- On screen
- TV series, with Elisabeth Moss as Offred
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Checked, not a factor here (10)
The four readers (10) and the award-winning narration (6) give listening 16 points, while the back-and-forth between Offred’s present and her memories (8) gives reading 8. That puts it at 66%, leaning to audio.
Every book gets the same thirteen checks, set in advance. Verdicts are never paid for or influenced by affiliate links. Last edited 6 November 2026, and rechecked every year as editions and narrators change. Read the checks in full · Is listening the same as reading? See what the research says.
The recording in detail
- Scored
- Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Vintage Digital, 2019, 11h 22m, unabridged
- Critic review
- Best Audiobook (Fiction), New York Festivals Radio Awards 2020
- Alternatives
- Claire Danes Special Edition, Audible Studios, 2017 (12h 6m), Audible US only
- What you miss
- Nothing. There’s no map, glossary or special layout
What this book actually is
The Handmaid’s Tale is Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, forced to bear children for a Commander’s household, and she tells her story in the first person, moving between her present and her memories of life before Gilead.
The book closes with a short section, the Historical Notes, set at an academic symposium far in the future. Its sequel, The Testaments, came out in 2019, and the novel is the basis of the TV series in which Elisabeth Moss plays Offred.
The case for reading it
Offred’s account moves back and forth between Gilead and her life before it. Seneca Learning’s revision notes call it “like a mosaic of the past and the present”, with the flashbacks most developed in the repeated “Night” chapters, and in print you can see those chapter breaks and turn back when a memory connects to the present.
The prose itself is plain, which Joyce Johnson in The Washington Post called “direct, artless, utterly convincing”, so the case for print rests on the structure, not the style.
The case for listening to it
Elisabeth Moss, who plays Offred in the TV series, reads the whole novel, and listeners rate her performance 4.74 on Audible UK. Offred’s voice is the book, and here it comes from the actor most closely tied to the part.
Then three more readers take over: Ann Dowd, who plays Aunt Lydia on screen, opens the Historical Notes, and Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford read the transcript, so you hear the move from Offred’s story to the closing section in new voices.
The audiobook in detail
Elisabeth Moss reads the novel in this unabridged recording from Vintage Digital (Penguin Audio), released on 30 April 2019 and running 11 hours 22 minutes. Ann Dowd reads the opening of the Historical Notes, and Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford read the transcript that follows.
On Audible US, Claire Danes reads the Audible Studios editions: a 2012 recording and a 2017 Special Edition that adds a full-cast interview written by Atwood, a new afterword and an essay by Valerie Martin. No PDF comes with any of them.
Who should ignore this verdict
If you are in the US and want the extra 2017 material, look for the Claire Danes Special Edition; Kirkus says Danes “sparkles in this performance”. If you like to keep track of a story that moves between past and present, read it; for Moss’s performance, listen.
Audiobook
- Read by Elisabeth Moss, with three readers for the Historical Notes
- 11h 22m
- Unabridged
Kindle
- 320 pages (UK paperback)
- Easier to track the flashback chapters
- About 5½ hours to read (our estimate)
Related verdicts
1984
The classic dystopia most often paired with it.
The Hunger Games
A first-person dystopia told by one young woman.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
A dystopian prequel, also better on audio.
Lord of the Flies
Another classic on school reading lists.
Frankenstein
A classic with a frame story, better in print.
The Bell Jar
A woman’s first-person classic, from this batch.
Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates The Handmaid’s Tale audiobook?
In the UK, Elisabeth Moss reads the novel, and Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker and Bradley Whitford read the closing Historical Notes (Penguin, 2019). On Audible US, Claire Danes reads the Audible Studios editions.
How long is The Handmaid’s Tale audiobook?
The Elisabeth Moss audiobook is 11 hours 22 minutes, unabridged. That is about 7 hours 35 minutes at 1.5x speed and 5 hours 41 minutes at 2x (calculated).
Is The Handmaid’s Tale audiobook abridged?
No. The Elisabeth Moss and Claire Danes audiobooks on Audible are both unabridged.
How many pages is The Handmaid’s Tale?
The UK Vintage paperback (ISBN 9780099740919) has 320 pages.
Does Elisabeth Moss narrate The Handmaid’s Tale audiobook?
Yes. Elisabeth Moss, who plays Offred in the TV series, reads the novel in the 2019 Penguin audiobook.
What is the Claire Danes Special Edition of The Handmaid’s Tale?
A 2017 Audible US edition of Claire Danes’s reading that adds a new full-cast interview with Professor Pieixoto written by Margaret Atwood, a new afterword by Atwood and an essay by Valerie Martin. As of November 2026 it is sold on Audible US only.
What are the Historical Notes in The Handmaid’s Tale?
The short final section: a transcript of an academic symposium held long after Gilead, which looks back on Offred’s account.
Is there a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale?
Yes. The Testaments (2019) is the sequel, and its audiobook is read by a full cast including Ann Dowd, Bryce Dallas Howard and Mae Whitman.
Who tells the story in The Handmaid’s Tale?
Offred tells the whole novel in the first person, moving between her present in Gilead and her memories of life before it.
Should I read or listen to The Handmaid’s Tale?
Listen, on balance. Elisabeth Moss’s award-winning reading puts Offred’s voice front and centre, and three more readers take the Historical Notes. The story moves back and forth between Gilead and Offred’s memories, though, so if you like to keep track of that on the page, read it.
Spotted a mistake on this page? Tell us and we will fix it. Or tell us how the site could be better.
Deciding about a different book?
Search for it. If we've written it up, we'll take you to the verdict. If not, we'll add it to our list of books to check.