The Testaments

As I'm not a literary critic any book review I write comes down to, simply, “Did I enjoy it? Was it worth reading?”. With The Testaments the answer to that is a resounding “yes”. The whole novel felt like an indulgent treat, particularly crawling around inside the brain of the duplicitous Aunt Lydia. To hear all those voices tell their stories (and their secrets) was a delight. After the uncertainty of The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments brought catharsis.


I like the way Atwood writes - the poetry of her prose. I'd read, and most likely enjoy, anything she wrote. The Testaments is literarily quite different from her The Handmaid's Tale, seeming to draw more on the style of the TV show. This is amplified by the multiple POVs flipping us to-and-fro, keeping us on our toes. I found it less bleak, dark or foreboding than its predecessor. But, perhaps now, we need hopes more than warnings.

Others question whether this novel was “necessary” - is any book? Or maybe only stand alone originals are allowed? No sequels or prequels here please!
So Atwood hints she wrote it as a response to fans requests. Does it matter? She had been jotting sequel ideas since the 90s - you don't invent a situation like Gilead and then just stop thinking about it.
Atwood says she was driven to finally write the sequel when, “Instead of going away from Gilead, we turned around and started coming back towards Gilead”.
Where The Handmaid's Tale was a warning of what may come, The Testaments serves as both reprimand and redemption.