THE TESTAMENTS

by Margaret Atwood
 
Thirty-five years after writing her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood has given us the ultimate gift of an absolutely fabulous sequel in The Testaments.  Although I read The Handmaid’s Tale many years ago, I was able to jump right into The Testaments because I’ve been following the Hulu television series of The Handmaid’s Tale.  To be clear, Atwood’s The Testaments picks up fifteen years after her ending in The Handmaid’s Tale. The Hulu series, which was written by Bruce Miller based on the original book, takes place in the same time frame as the book.
 
The first and most striking impression I had of The Testaments is how beautifully written it is.  Atwood commands the English language like a poet.  Beyond that, she tells a gripping story using three different narrators who it is clear will encounter one another before the story ends.  Without giving away the plotline, Atwood has Aunt Lydia, the most revered of the Aunts in Gilead (the only class of women with any power), narrate part of The Testaments.  Aunt Lydia reveals her backstory and Atwood gives her a conscience, which makes her narration captivating.  The other two narrators are young women – one inside Gilead and the other in Canada.  Over the course of the novel, we learn their identities.
 
Atwood skillfully depicts a Gilead that finds itself in a less-than-idyllic state.  Power struggles, corruption and human failings abound.  Aunt Lydia masterminds a plan to address these problems and right some of the wrongs perpetrated over the years by Gilead as a whole and by her as an individual.  The Testaments is a must read.  You will not want to put it down. (Liz)

SECOND HELPING

This is one of the most brilliant sequels I have ever read.  Atwood is a master and this book is highly intelligent, timely and emotionally piercing, all while being an epically exciting page-turner. (Lily)