The Testaments is the Booker Prize winning sequel to the Booker Prize finalist The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.
The novel is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. It is narrated by Aunt Lydia, a character from the previous novel; Agnes, a young woman living in Gilead; and Daisy, a young woman living in Canada.
The public had to wait 34 years for this sequel which was not only well-received but encouraged the Booker Prize jury to split the prize between two authors for the first time in its history, the other winner being Bernardine Evaristo, the first black female winner and the first black British winner for her novel Girl, Woman, Other.
Canadian, Atwood has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children’s books, and two graphic novels, as well as a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. She had won the Booker Prize previously with her 2000 novel, The Blind Assassin.
While writing The Testaments she coordinated the plot with the ongoing television adaptation of The Handmade`s Tale so that none of the characters would impact on the characters in the series.
For fans of The Handmade`s Tale, The Testaments is essential reading, expending the universe and revealing backstory and sub-plots. The plot is revealed slowly and while some of the developments might be guessed at the execution is worth the wait.
