The Testaments – Margret Atwood

 In 1985, The Handmaid’s Tale gave a harrowing account of one woman’s fate in the patriarchal society of Gilead, following its takeover of much of the United States. In this sequel, published twenty-five years later, a broader view emerges with the testaments of three women, none of them handmaids, dated probably twenty-five years after the events of the previous book.

Agnes Jemima is the privileged daughter of Commander Kyle and his current wife Tabitha. That Agnes’s birth mother is not Tabitha is nothing unusual in Gilead, but neither was she conceived by a handmaid, so Kyle may not be her father (he certainly shows no fatherly affection). She recounts her upbringing and ‘education’ that prepares her for an early marriage and life as a Commander’s wife. Not a prospect she relishes.

Daisy is almost sixteen and is not in Gilead but across the border in Canada. She thinks she is the daughter of Neil and Melanie who run a second-hand clothes shop in Toronto. But her parentage is also a lie. And the shop is just a front for the Mayday operation, set up to assist runaway handmaids and other fugitives from Gilead. When Neil and Melanie’s cover is blown, Daisy is whisked off by Mayday into hiding.

The third, most damning, testimony is from one of the Gilead Aunts, those in charge of the education (and subjugation) of the female population, particularly the daughters of the elite. They also train and oversee ‘Pearl Girls’ missionaries to undertake good works and conversions abroad, including Canada. However, Aunt Lydia is not just an Aunt, she is one of the founding Aunts at the top of the organisation and as such is the confidante of Supreme Commander Judd. Her testimony goes way back to her ‘recruitment’; it witnesses the rise of Gilead and foresees its fall. She wants to have her say for posterity.

The three narratives, convincingly written, unfold in turn and converge to a fitting climax. Atwood is strongest on the oppressive setting and chilling detail of Gilead, and if the coming together of the storylines is a little contrived, it is forgivable in bringing Gilead back to our attention in a world in need of reminding what could happen.