NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE • A modern masterpiece that “reminds us of the power of truth in the face of evil” (People)—and can be read on its own or as a sequel to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. “Atwood’s powers are on full display” (Los Angeles Times) in this deeply compelling Booker Prize-winning novel, now updated with additional content that … Booker Prize-winning novel, now updated with additional content that explores the historical sources, ideas, and material that inspired Atwood.
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.
Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third: Aunt Lydia. Her complex past and uncertain future unfold in surprising and pivotal ways.
With The Testaments, Margaret Atwood opens up the innermost workings of Gilead, as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.
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If you are a Handmaid’s Tale fan, you will love this follow up. Atwood draws you in, makes you love the characters, and keeps you riveted to the final page.
A very worthy sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.
An explanation of characters in the Handmaiden’s tale. Enlightening!
“Love is as strong as death.”
The Testaments is the exquisitely crafted accounts of Aunt Lydia, Agnes Jemima, and Nicole. Told like interwoven witness statements and bookended by a curiously touching review from a historian’s symposium this novel gives us another glance into the intriguing and bewildering world of Gilead and the characters who sacrificed so much to correct its mistakes. I loved how each character had to confront their own quirks and failures and decide – Gilead or God? (After a fashion, you’ll see what I mean.) Another marvelous work from Margaret Atwood!
I loved this book! It is a great sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.
Exceptional sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. I couldn’t put it down. Like the earlier book, very thought-provoking.
The long and much awaited follow up to The Handmaids Tale did not disappoint this reader. I think the question most of us had after reading Handmaids was, what happened to Gilead next. This book finally tells us and it is beyond satisfying to get the epic conclusion. The way that Atwood worked in the details from the tv series to seamlessly continue her take was fabulous. The characters were intriguing and the deeper look into the cruel and calculating Aunt Lydia was both terrifying and refreshing. I don’t want to give away much so I won’t go into the other main characters, their connection or backstories, but I will say that if you enjoyed Handmaids Tale you should definitely pick this one up and feel the righteous joy of seeing Gilead fall.
A great sequel to a haunting story. It gave me hope for our future even if the worst happens.
Praise be, Atwood has done it again.
The story takes up roughly fifteen years after The Handmaid’s Tale’s events. Through a written record, the infamous, detestable Aunt Lydia shines new light on the increasingly monstrous, power-obsessed people of Gilead. The story also chronicles two witnesses—first-generation Gileadites—one, Witness 369A, a Commander’s daughter living in Gilead; the other, Witness 369B, who grew up in Canada, far from the clutches of the Gilead regime but still affected by its reach.
This installment tied up some loose ends where The Handmaid’s Tale left off. It was no less chilling. No less squirm-worthy. In true Atwood style. There’s talk of an upcoming Hulu series, and if that’s true, I must watch it.
Absolutely stunning. Devoured every word.
Not as good as the first book
Not as commanding as The Handmaid’s Tale, but then it couldn’t be as most readers would already know the outlines of the world Atwood has created. But it fills in a lot of the gaps in the earlier book, not that the plot is sequential. It stands on its own.
Margaret Atwood has written a brilliant and timely sequel to the Handmaid’s Tale. Couldn’t put it down. I
boring
Book feels rushed. Could have been longer and given more detail. So much Left between the lines. I feel she had a opportunity to give us the answers and details on the lives of many of the the people trying to survive Gilead, but just tried to give us a “ending”
Very disappointed.
I liked that it answered some questions from the first one.
Follows the culture of women and men after The Handmaid’s Tale. Very much Atwood’s detailed complex style that I will probably read again. Thanks heavens for Kindle’s ability to identify characters as names change and the story progresses.
Thirty-five years after The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985, Margaret Atwood wrote its sequel. If the dystopian world depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale felt a comfortable distance away from ever happening, The Testaments does not. It depicts a daily life in Gilead, (the former US), that feels entirely possible; a utopia created for the religious right where men are in charge and women assume roles deemed appropriate for them and their bodies based on their compliance and modesty. For any who doubts this could happen, Atwood maps out a plausible course of events not unlike life in our country. Imagine we lived in a time where a “handmaid” was just confirmed for membership on the Supreme Court of the United States and a pandemic has changed daily life as we knew it before 2020. We are masked, free movement is limited, 1.26 million people have died, and scientific information is being deliberately distorted by the government “to avoid a panic.” Less this sound like all doom and gloom, Atwood finishes with an ending that left me feeling hopeful—and marveling at her formidable skills as a writer.
Before you read this book you need to read the Handmaiden’s Tale.
Destined to be another classic. Wouldn’t be surprised if someday this & The Handmaid’s Tale are used in tandem & taught in future history classes