How many pages is The Handmaid's Tale?

324 pages, which is about 97,000 words and 6½ hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we use the figure two of our sources agree on.

Is The Handmaid's Tale worth reading?

We score it 7.3 out of 10 for the time it takes — worth the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.11 out of 5 from 3,480 ratings, which counts for 7.3; at about 6½ hrs at an average pace its length neither adds nor takes away.

How long is The Handmaid's Tale audiobook?

About 11 hrs, estimated from the 97,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

Find a copy Listen on Audible · ≈11 hrs

The Handmaid's Tale

Name: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

6½ hrsto read

7.3worth it

At your speed≈ 6½ hrs

Pages324

Audiobook≈ 11 hrs

Times shown for 250 words a minute (average)

324 pages works out to roughly 97,000 words. At an average 250 words a minute that is 6½ hrs — a weekend's reading.

Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.11 out of 5, from 3,480 ratings.

Worth-it score 7.3/10 — Worth the time. Readers 7.3 (Hardcover's 4.11★ from 3,480 ratings) + length 0.0 = 7.3. How the score works →

How long does it take to read The Handmaid's Tale?

The Handmaid's Tale is 324 pages, or roughly 97,000 words. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:

Estimated reading time for The Handmaid's Tale at three reading speeds.
Your pace	Words per minute	Time to finish
Slow	175	9½ hrs
Average	250	6½ hrs
Fast	400	4 hrs

Estimated at about 300 words per page. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts. Prefer to listen? At a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute the audiobook runs about 11 hrs — an estimate from the word count, since narrators vary.

Common questions

How long does it take to read The Handmaid's Tale?: About 6½ hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The Handmaid's Tale runs 324 pages, roughly 97,000 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 9½ hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 4 hrs.
How many pages is The Handmaid's Tale?: 324 pages, which is about 97,000 words and 6½ hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we use the figure two of our sources agree on.
Is The Handmaid's Tale worth reading?: We score it 7.3 out of 10 for the time it takes — worth the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.11 out of 5 from 3,480 ratings, which counts for 7.3; at about 6½ hrs at an average pace its length neither adds nor takes away.
How long is The Handmaid's Tale audiobook?: About 11 hrs, estimated from the 97,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.

From the publisher

The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and…

going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force.

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