Atwood writing ’Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel, out in 2019

Atwood writing ’Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel, out in 2019

NEW YORK

Thanks to public demand, and a certain American president, Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to her million-selling “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“The Testaments” will be published next September by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, the publisher announced Wednesday. The book is set 15 years after the final scene of Offred, narrator of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Atwood’s novel about a dystopian society in the imagined land of Gilead was a best seller when first published in 1985 and was back on the charts after Donald Trump’s election in 2016. The novel is also the basis for an acclaimed series on Hulu.

Former CIA head John O. Brennan writing memoir, due in 2020

NEW YORK

John O. Brennan, the former CIA director and longtime intelligence official, is working on a memoir.

Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that it had a deal with Brennan. According to Celadon, the book will cover his more than 30 years in government under Republican and Democratic presidents, including such historic events as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. The book, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2020.

Brennan served as CIA director under President Barack Obama from 2013-17. He has since become a prominent critic of President Donald Trump, who in August said he was revoking Brennan’s security clearance.

Associated Press