‘Handmaid’s Tale’ author on reversal of Roe v. Wade: ‘I told you so’

“The Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood posted a short but clear message on Instagram about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Atwood posted a picture of herself over the weekend holding a mug that reads “I Told You So” with the caption “Coffee in Nova Scotia with appropriately sloganed coffee cup.”

The bestselling novelist’s most famous work — which centers around a patriarchal, totalitarian society called Gilead that has overthrown the U.S. government and subjects women to forcible breeding by upper-class families — has exploded in popularity in recent years as abortion restrictions across the country have increased. The book was also adapted into a Hulu series in 2017.

Atwood also took to Twitter to clarify her remarks in the photo caption. She tweeted that “when HandmaidsTale came out in 85, there was disbelief. I thought a religious-right takeover was possible in the US, and was Crazy Margaret. Premature, but unfortunately too close. That doesn’t make me happy.”

The red robes and white bonnets that the women in Atwood’s novel are required to wear have become iconic in the past few years as people have replicated the outfits and worn them to protests, including public demonstrations for abortion access and demonstrations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh‘s confirmation in 2018.

Atwood told People in 2017 that she never imagined the novel would be prophetic.

“There’s a precedent in real life for everything in the book,” the author said. “I decided not to put anything in that somebody somewhere hadn’t already done. But you write these books so they won’t come true.”

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