Margaret Atwood announces sequel to 'Handmaids Tale'

Margaret Atwood, whose books have found a new cultural relevance in the #MeToo era, is coming up with a sequel to her most famous dystopian novel, "The Handmaids Tale".

Titled "The Testaments", the story is set 15 years after Offred's final scene and is narrated by three female characters. It will be published in September 2019, Atwood wrote on Twitter.

The Canadian author said the book is inspired by all the questions that people have about Gilead, a fictional dystopian place where women have no rights and are treated like baby-making machines.

"Everything you have ever asked about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book well, almost everything. The other inspiration is the world we have been living in," Atwood tweeted.

"Handmaids Tale", starring Elizabeth Moss as Offred, has been adapted successfully for television.

The iconic red outfit with white bonnets that handmaids wear in the book has emerged as one of the most popular feminist symbols of protest.

Atwood's "Alias Grace", a fictionalised account of the 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Canada West, has also been turned into a critically-acclaimed adaptation on Netflix.

The book is told from the point of view of Grace Marks, a servant who was convicted of the crime along side James McDermott.

McDermott was hanged while Grace was sentenced to life imprisonment.