book challenge update/spoiler alert

Just finished reading this book. It was a powerful experience.  I think the themes of fundamentalism, autocracy, deprivation of human rights and subjugation of women, explored in both The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments,  are more relevant now than they were when Atwood published Handmaid in 1985.




Yes, you do need a working knowledge of The Handmaid's Tale before you read The Testaments, though (with one notable exception) the central characters of that story do not appear in the sequel. But no, you don't have to be a fan of the Hulu series -- though I am fairly certain Atwood has been watching the series. (And yes, Hulu is already planning an adaptation of the new book, which I will most certainly watch.)

(If you don't want spoilers, stop right here.)

The Handmaid's Tale, as you will recall, introduced us to Gilead, a country run by right-wing fundamentalists known as the Sons of Jacob, who have overthrown the United States government and instituted a theocracy based on their weird, twisted interpretation of the Old Testament.  In this world, women exist only to provide services to men:  They are either Wives, Marthas (housekeepers and cooks), or Handmaids.   With infertility a rampant problem, ruling-class Commanders whose wives are unable to bear children are provided with a Handmaid, a fertile woman whose sole job is to bear children.  The protagonist is Offred (literally "Of Fred", the Commander she serves), and the book describes her life as a Handmaid, and her hope of escaping from Gilead through the efforts of an underground known as "MayDay". Offred has been so dehumanized that we never learn her real name. the book ends with a pregnant Offred attempting to flee Gilead for Canada.

The Testaments is set 15 years after Offred's story, tells the tales of three women: Aunt Lydia, Agnes Jemima, and Daisy.

We first met Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale. "Aunts" are teachers, and Aunt Lydia's role is to train women to become good Handmaids.  In The Testaments, we learn how Lydia transformed from lawyer/judge to Founder, one of the women instrumental in setting up and administering Gilead's new social structure.

Next we meet Agnes Jemima, the presumed daughter of a Commander and his Wife, whose destiny is to marry a Commander or the son of  a Commander...until...

Our third protagonist is Daisy, a Canadian teenager. Daisy's whole life changes after she attends a rally protesting Gilead's human rights violations and  mistreatment of women.

Offred never makes an appearance in this novel, but her presence is felt.  Early on we realize that Agnes is the daughter of Offred and her husband Luke, the child they were trying to smuggle out of Gilead and into Canada.  Later we learn that Daisy is really Baby Nicole, famously smuggled out of Gilead as an infant (a nod to the Hulu series), also apparently the daughter of Offred.

The three lives become entwined when Agnes runs from her arraigned marriage to become an Aunt, and Daisy undertakes a dangerous undercover mission to Gilead.


As indicated above, the themes first explored in Handmaid are present here as well — subjugation of women, totalitarian and fundamentalist ruling class, propaganda vs. truth, and everyone’s dirty little secrets. As I read the book, one question came to mind — Gilead was built up by men, Will it be brought down by women?

While not nearly as innovative or compelling as Handmaid, Testaments is a worthy sequel.

Next up:

While I wait for Renia's diary to be released, I will occupy myself with this book: