The Testaments

Writing sequels is always a challenge. Consider the hype and then relative disappointment around Harper Lee's Mockingbird follow-up (Go Set a Watchman). Given the prescience of The Handmaid's Tale and its increased urgency in the Trump era of (religious) extremism, its sequel was always going to be as much a political event as a literary one. There was also the dynamic/expectation embedded within the televised interpretation of Atwood's original — in other words, a high bar set. The Testaments is not a bad book. In many ways, it's very good. However, it was always likely to be a slight anti-climax, particularly having enjoyed the original again recently (see previous review). The Testaments is an atypical Atwood novel in that it reads more as a thriller than any previous, perhaps an inevitability in context. It is great on the backstory of how Gilead was conceived and developed into the authoritarian regime depicted. It is also excellent on the subsequent downfall of Gilead. All autocracies fail. The epilogue (replicated from The Handmaid's Tale) of an academic symposium looking back on Gilead is notable too and shows how open history is to (re)interpretation. However, I felt The Testaments was let down by an absence of Atwood's trademark humour. Further, none of the characters seemed to have fully developed inner lives. Give me the Oryx and Crake trilogy over this work any time. 7.5/10.

By Margaret Atwood