Margaret Atwood

A Novel

Testaments

THE NUMBER 1 BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 'The Testaments is Atwood at her best . . . To read this book is to feel the world turning' Anne Enright The Republic of Gilead is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, two girls with radically different experiences of the regime come face to face with the legendary, ruthless Aunt Lydia. But how far will each go for what she believes? Now with additional material: book club discussion points and an interview with Margaret Atwood about the real-life events that inspired The Testaments and The Handmaid's Tale. PRAISE FOR THE TESTAMENTS: 'Everything The Handmaid's Tale fans wanted and more. Prepare to hold your breath throughout, and to cry real tears at the end' Stylist 'Atwood challenges us constantly and poses the question that lies like a pearl inside the shell of this frighteningly readable novel, "Before you sit in judgement, how would you behave in Gilead?''' Sunday Telegraph

The Booker prize-winning sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale

The Testaments

Luoyi

In loving memory of Becka, aunt immortelle

This memorial was erected by her sisters Agnes and Nicole and their mother, their two fathers, their children and their grandchildren.

And in recognition of the invaluable services provided by A.L. A bird of air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

The full moon is out, casting her equivocal corpse- glow over all. Three Eyes saluted me as I passed them: in moonlight their faces were skulls, as mine must have been to them.

I picture you as a young women, bright, ambitious. You’ll be looking to make a niche for yourself in whatever dim, echoing caverns of academia may still exist by your time. I situate you at your desk, your hair tucked back behind your ears, your nail polish chipped-for nail polish will have returned, it always does. You're frowning slightly, a habit that will increase as you age. I hover behind you, peering over your shoulder: your muse, your unseen inspiration, urging you on.

You are not unique in the universe. No one has an easy time in life. But maybe God has effed up—as you put it—your life for a reason."

sometimes i forget she was a judge then. she says stuff like this and im like hell yeah

Is it your theory that nature will win out over nurture? In which case, the original sinfulness of Adam will assert itself in all of us despite our rigorous efforts to stamp it out, and I am afraid our Gilead project will be doomed."

Aunt Lydia redemption was not on my list of things to expect from this book

"She's asking for obedience and loyalty," said Becka. "Remember how she rescued us-both of us? We have to say yes."

"Hell is more than itchy," said Becka. "I will pray for your redemption."

Normal is like looking out a car window. Things pass by, this and that and this and that, without much significance. You don't register such hours; they're habitual, like brushing your teeth. 

Luca Stromann

That was a talent women had because of their special brains, which were not hard and focused like the brains of men but soft and damp and warm and enveloping, like... like what? She didn't finish the sentence.

 mud in the sun, I thought. That's what was inside my head: warmed-up mud.

The adult female body was one big booby trap as far as I could tell. If there was a hole, something was bound to be shoved into it and something else was bound to come out, and that went for any kind of hole […].

Beatrix

I wanted to believe; indeed I longed to; and, in the end, how much of belief comes from longing?

I am still, I am still, I am still…undetectable?motionless?here?alive?

In the early days of Gilead, I used to ask myself whether I was Fox or Cat. 

..Obviously I was both, since - unlike many - here I still am. I still have a bag of tricks. And I’m still high in the tree.

Only an idiot would have believed this, so I did.

ahah. the buildup for this, funny funny. 

So men had something in their heads that was like fingers, only a sort of fingers girls did not have. 

aahh Margaret Atwood just doing her marvellous, murky space and character creating thing

.. I could hear her heart hammering away inside her - faster and faster, it seemed to me, as she waited for me to say something. I knew my answer had power: I could make her smile, or not. 

What could I say but yes and yes? Yes, I was happy. Yes, I was lucky. Anyway it was true.

I hope you will remember, too, that we all have some nostalgia for whatever kindness we have known as children, however bizarre the conditions of that childhood may seem to others.

Jolien De Landsheer

Reign of terror, they used to say, but terror does not exactly reign. Instead it paralyzes.

He thinks of me as his handiwork: I am the embodiment of his will.

The women in charge handed them tissues. They said calm things like You need to be strong. They were trying to make things better. But it can put a lot of pressure on a person to be told they need to be strong. That's another thing I've learned.

Why cry, you should be happy, you got out. But after all that's happened to me since that day, I understand why. You hold it in, whatever it is, until you can make it through the worst part. Then, once you're safe, you can cry all the tears you couldn't waste time crying before.

"I should have gone with you; she said. "But he's the best dentist. Everyone agrees."

She knew. Or she suspected. She was warning me not to say anything. That was the kind of coded language they used. Or I should say: that we all used.

Some girls had reported such things. One had claimed their Guardian had run his hands over her legs. Another had said that an Econo trash collector had unzipped his trousers in front of her. The first girl had had the backs of her legs whipped for lying, the second had been told that nice girls did not notice the minor antics of men, they simply looked the other way.

You don't believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you.

I made choices, and then, having made them, I had fewer choices. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one most travelled by. It was littered with corpses, as such roads are. But as you will have noticed, my own corpse is not among them.

Not as good as the original obviously, but still an interesting narrative and perspective of women in Gilead. Scary how much the Handmaids take is still relevant to today. 

Sadie Hoffman

Not as good as the original obviously, but still an interesting narrative and perspective of women in Gilead. Scary how much the Handmaids take is still relevant to today. 

💚🤎

Very different writing styles to the handmaids tale (imo), but both amazing. This one felt a bit more novelly like, but easier to read too.

I’m very conflicted about Aunt Lydia, but I love the girls they deserve happiness. But Nicole is annoying af.

Denisse Garcia Ramírez 

Very different writing styles to the handmaids tale (imo), but both amazing. This one felt a bit more novelly like, but easier to read too.

I’m very conflicted about Aunt Lydia, but I love the girls they deserve happiness. But Nicole is annoying af.

beautifully written, reflecting on the complexity of people and the perfect sequel to the handmaid’s tale

What a brilliant way to come back with a second part to answer questions that were out there since 1985.

Ani Velasquez

This book has quickly risen to one of my top reads of the year. The three different perspectives from the narrators provided such an amazing deep dive into my questions after finishing The Handmaid's Tale. My favorite aspect of the book was the new insight we received on Aunt Lydia and the type of person she was forced to become AND overcome. I recommend this book deeply to everyone, as I did with The Handmaid's Tale. The audiobook especially brings a whole new level to the book because different actors and actresses play different roles. 

Riley

Eva Ströberg

I like that this book is timed so far ahead in the future that we know (for sure) that Gilead is no more. The totalitarian state has crumbled down, and even though I know it's *Just* a story, it gives me comfort that this kind of system gets no more runs for the money.

I can imagine how hard it must be to write a "sequel" to a book where the TV series is ongoing at the moment, but Atwood did well. It gives closure to most of the things with a little surprise about how really is runs the Mayday network.

Still, the Handmaid's Tale so much better than The Testament, like any other stories that need sequels.

Ryan Mateyk

I mean, 5 stars is a given because I’m biased towards Atwood but badass Aunt Lydia was amazing. Atwood generally tends to focus on character development, whereas this read more like your typical page turning thriller. Definitely a bit of a different vibe from her other works but I loved!

was okay, sorta had the ending figured out by the first half lol 

iris 

Sarah Sammis

he Testaments by Margaret Atwood is the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (1981). I read the original back in 2005, before this site had settled on being a daily book blog. I haven't seen the television series so all my thoughts on the book will be contained to the current book and what I recall of the original.

It's fifteen years after the close of The Handmaid's Tale, but frankly sometimes it feels more like thirty-eight years (the time between publications). The narrative is broken up into three points of view: a woman who runs the school, a girl destined to be a wife, and a girl who lives outside of Gilead but was born there.

CC6666 - siblings home offroad

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE The Testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to Margaret Atwood's classic, The Handmaid's Tale. 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.

Marie

A very interesting peek into Gilead, this time from the perspective not of a Handmaid, but of three other types of women - an Aunt, a future Wife, and a teenage girl from the other side of the border (Canada). This way way more suspenseful than I anticipated, allover an expertly crafted narrative, but I expected no less from Margaret Atwood. 

My only complaint is that it didn't quite make sense to me why (view spoiler)[Nicole had to go to Gilead herself. She seems absolutely unfit, and literally anyone else could have done what she did. (hide spoiler)]

Dani

Impossible to put down, read in a day. Provides a different angle to Gilead, and is insightfully written.

eileen sheats

Aunt Lydia's voice in this is phenomenal. I think Atwood did a great job here. I wasn't as much of a fan of Daisy or Agnes, some of the material seemed a little contrived. But it was definitely a really engaging book and I blasted through the second half.

hileahrious

Nicholas Barnard

the testaments takes its predecessors key themes - namely the politics of survival, complicity and power - into arguably more complex and challenging territory. Atwood is no longer interested in victimisation; how we become complicit in systems of oppression and domination proves to be a more interesting question for her.

A brilliant way to end the Handmaids of tale gave a clear ending to the story. 

Elizabeth Denny

Loved Aunt Lydia's parts but Nicole/Jade and Agnes' parts just read like YA. Such a tone shift from the original book!

I accidentally came across this book in a charity shop and this was the first I’d heard of it! 

Not a necessary book but one I needed in my life. I adore Margaret Atwood’s writing style and she has potential to be one of my favourite authors. 

Can be a difficult read in some areas but with heaps of imagination and closure with characters I never thought possible, I was hooked from the beginning. 

Alisha 

I accidentally came across this book in a charity shop and this was the first I’d heard of it! 

Not a necessary book but one I needed in my life. I adore Margaret Atwood’s writing style and she has potential to be one of my favourite authors. 

Can be a difficult read in some areas but with heaps of imagination and closure with characters I never thought possible, I was hooked from the beginning. 

Lamia Hajani

I probably should have read The Handmaid's Tale a second time shortly before reading this book. I forgot a lot of things that happened in the first book. And I still had a few questions after finishing this book. Nonetheless, it's a good read even independently of the initial book. I would venture to say that this book wasn't necessary, but I welcome its existence nonetheless.

Better than I expected. Hard to read at points due to the subject matter, but enjoyable. 

Shae

Obsessed. This book completes the story so well. If you liked the first book or the show, I def recommend this book to you 

Leah Diaz 

Ed Kay

OK, but disappointing. Felt like a dumbed-down, thriller style sequel, with none of the incredible writing and allegory and allusion that characterised the Handmaid's Tale. Sure, it tied up some loose ends and added depth to the original story, but I don't feel like it added all that much. Not sure how it was deemed worthy of the Booker!

Andrew Louis

Alexa M

"The adult female body was one big booby trap as far as I could tell. If there was a hole, something was bound to be shoved into it and something else was bound to come out, and that went for any kind of hole: a hold in the wall, a hole in a mountain, a hole in the ground. There were so many things that could be done to it or go wrong with it, this adult female body, that I was left feeling i would be better off without it." 

i really liked this but in completely different ways than The Handmaid's Tale. whereas THT is simply a woman's story, this one focuses a lot more on actual plot. the first half of the book was interesting but I only felt drawn to one of the POVs. however, past the midway point, I started finding all 3 POVs interesting. the entire book was very fast-paced which was nice, but the ending was a  little  rushed in my opinion.

Testaments A Novel

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