Books › The Testaments
Booker Prize 2019
The Testaments
562 pages
A tense, conspiratorial thriller that explores the corrosive nature of complicity and the thrilling mechanics of bringing down a regime from the inside.
What it feels like
Where its predecessor was a claustrophobic study of endurance, this sequel reads like a propulsive, high-stakes espionage thriller. The reading experience is defined by a tense, conspiratorial mood, driven by three distinct voices that weave together a tapestry of complicity, survival, and rebellion. You are pulled into the chilling pragmatism of a cynical insider, the sheltered confusion of a true believer, and the radicalized urgency of an outsider. Atwood's prose remains sharp and observant, laced with her signature dark wit, but the pacing here is significantly faster, hurtling toward a deeply cathartic climax. It is a deeply satisfying read for anyone who loves feminist dystopias that grapple with moral gray areas while delivering the thrilling mechanics of dismantling an oppressive regime.
- Mood
- tense
- conspiratorial
- oppressive
- cathartic
- Tone
- wry
- cynical
- urgent
- sharp
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- complicity and survival · dismantling oppressive systems · intergenerational trauma · moral compromise · female solidarity
- The writing
- Atwood's sentences are sharp, pragmatic, and laced with a chilling, dark wit that cuts through the bleakness.
- The arc
- The journey shifts from suffocating dread and moral ambiguity into a high-stakes, cathartic race toward liberation.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave feminist dystopias with complex moral gray areas and a satisfying, plot-driven resolution.
Content notes
- misogyny
- sexual assault
- totalitarianism
- child grooming
- suicide
- violence
About the book
15 years after the sons of Jacob seized power in the USA and became Gilead. The story is told from three female viewpoints; Daisy, Agnes and Lydia. Daisy struggles with coming to the realization of her past and who she really is, Agnes tells her story and life in Gilead, and Lydia contemplates her life and decisions made.
When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her--freedom, prison or death.
With The Testaments, the wait is over.
Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.
In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." --Margaret Atwood
Description from Open Library.
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The Handmaid's TaleMargaret AtwoodA chilling, intimate descent into an oppressive reality, told through the quiet whispers of a woman fighting to remember her own name.
AllegiantVeronica RothA tense, emotionally devastating conclusion that forces its heroes to question everything they thought they knew about their world.
Women TalkingMiriam ToewsA fierce, philosophical chamber piece where a chorus of women debate their way toward liberation before a ticking clock runs out.
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The Age of MiraclesKaren Thompson WalkerA quiet, aching portrait of adolescence unfolding against the backdrop of a slow-motion apocalypse.