“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood
Is the big question answered?
If you’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale, the idea of reading The Testaments has most likely crossed your mind — if you haven’t read it already. Truth is, even if you haven’t read the world phenomenon that is The Handmaid’s Tale, but you’ve watched the TV show, you may also be tempted to read it.
After the success of the first book and show, I can see how writing a sequel was a large opportunity from a story and business perspective. Readers and viewers alike all wanted to know what happened to Offred after the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, written 35 years ago.
The Testaments takes place 15 years after the intriguing ending of the first book. It’s made up of the testaments of three key characters in the overall plot: the atrocious Aunt Lydia, a young woman from Gilead named Agnes Jemima, and Daisy, a teenager living in Canada. Their testaments start weaving into one other’s, and the relationship between the three characters — as well as with the original story — starts becoming clearer as readers continue on.
The suspense is continuous, and readers remain intrigued to see what happens next. It follows a similar narrative style to The Handmaid’s Tale’s — testimonies are left behind so the truth can be known in the future. In this case, it’s not one but three characters who wrote their stories for readers to explore. This narrative allows readers to see the world of Gilead from different angles, having learned what Gilead is like from a handmaid’s perspective before, now, in The Testaments, readers see the Gilead life from the point of view of an aunt, a young woman from an elite family, and a teenager from the outside.
Aunt Lydia’s testimony and tone clearly illustrate the viciousness of her character. Readers find out how she became an aunt and everything she endured during the process, which shaped her character — helping the reader understand where her evil nature comes from. This got me thinking about how we often have a perception of and even may judge someone without knowing what that person’s going through, or the situations they’re living through of which we’re unaware.
It’s also worth mentioning that after 15 years, the totalitarian regime of Gilead has started to break down by itself; however, there is a secret plan on the side to bring it down completely through the Mayday resistance, and key characters are deeply involved in it.
After reading both books and being a fan of the show (I can hardly wait for season four), I realize The Testaments opened my eyes to the other characters’ points of view, but for me, it didn’t beat The Handmaid’s Tale. I do question whether this sequel would exist if there hadn’t been such a successful TV show, and honestly, I don’t know, but either way, the book is a good read… and yes, questions are answered.