The Testaments book cover by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments

Adult • Science Fiction • Fantasy • Dystopian
Aunt Lydia operates within shadows Agnes is a Commander's daughter Daisy rebels against Gilead Narrative intertwines three perspectives Activism links all three women

Fifteen years after Offred stepped into an unknown fate, three female narrators, a Commander's daughter, a woman who grew up in Canada, and a Gilead enforcer, are drawn together by long-buried secrets.

Multi-layered sequel to The Handmaid's Tale that plunges readers back into the dystopian regime of Gilead fifteen years after Offred’s ambiguous escape. The narrative unfolds through the secret testimonies of three distinct female narrators, exposing the rot and corruption at the heart of the regime.

The first voice belongs to Aunt Lydia, a formidable and ruthless founding matriarch of Gilead who operates from the shadows within the Ardua Hall sanctuary.

Her story intersects with Agnes Jemima, a young woman raised amidst privilege as the daughter of a high-ranking Gilead Commander.

The final perspective is driven by Daisy, a fiercely independent and rebellious teenager growing up in Toronto, Canada.

Safely removed from Gilead's borders, Daisy becomes deeply entangled with an anti-Gilead activist group, ultimately setting off on a dangerous undercover mission that binds her fate to Agnes and Lydia. Together, these three women risk everything to expose Gilead's darkest secrets, offering an intricate look at how complicity, survival, and resistance intertwine in the fight to bring down a totalitarian empire.

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Edition information

Book details

Publisher
Vintage
Publication date
2020
Print length
448 pages
Language
English
ISBN
978-0525562627

Science Fiction + Fantasy + Dystopian

Reader guide

What to Know Before Reading The Testaments

Fifteen years after Offred stepped into an unknown fate, three female narrators, a Commander's daughter, a woman who grew up in Canada, and a Gilead enforcer, are drawn together by long-buried secrets.

In 'The Testaments', Margaret Atwood continues the story of Gilead fifteen years after the events of 'The Handmaid's Tale'. Through the voices of three female narrators, the narrative unveils the fate of Offred and explores themes of power, resistance, and identity in a dystopian world.

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About the author

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when the Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the 2017 release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series. ‘Her sequel, The Testaments, was published in 2019. It was an instant international bestseller and won the Booker Prize.’ Atwood has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019 she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada. Photo credit: Liam Sharp
A favorite quote

“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”

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