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The Testaments

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The Testaments

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Bryce Dallas Howard, Ann Dowd, Mae Whitman
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Winner of the Booker Prize 2019.

The British Book Awards Audiobook of the Year 2020

The Testaments
by Margaret Atwood is read by Ann Dowd, Bryce Dallas Howard and Mae Whitman with Derek Jacobi, Tantoo Cardinal and Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale, is a modern classic. Now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.


More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.

As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

'Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in.' Margaret Atwood

'The literary event of the year.' Guardian

'A savage and beautiful novel, and it speaks to us today, all around the world, with particular conviction and power... The bar is set particularly high for Atwood and she soars over it' Peter Florence, Booker Prize Chair of Judges, Guardian

Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Science Fiction Classics

Critic Reviews

Thrilling and blistering
An incredible follow-up
Gripping, pacy and beautifully written (Justine Jordan)
Finding hope in a hopeless place, this is everything The Handmaid’s Tale fans wanted and more. Prepare to hold your breath throughout, and to cry real tears at the end. My book of the year (Kayleigh Dray)
The Testaments is Atwood at her best, in its mixture of generosity, insight and control. The prose is adroit, direct, beautifully turned. All over the reading world, the history books are being opened to the next blank page and Atwood’s name is written at the top of it. To read this book is to feel the world turning (Anne Enright)
I gobbled it down... Atwood has an incredible intellectual nimbleness that challenges us constantly and poses the question that lies like a pearl inside the shell of this frighteningly readable novel, "Before you sit in judgement, how would you behave in Gilead?" (Allison Pearson)
No one needs another recommendation for The Testaments and still I have to say how thrilling it is when a book manages to exceed all expectations. How did she manage to make darkness feel so effortless? How did she think to inject humour where no humour should exist? Because she’s Margaret Atwood, and she can do anything (Ann Patchett)
A cracker: urgent, moving and as tense as any thriller... there's a darkly rebellious humour, ingenious wordplay and, of course, chillingly timely warnings. Atwood is long overdue a Nobel (Hepzibah Anderson)
At its heart, this gripping novel is a rallying call for action... In Atwood's world, resistance is never futile (Mernie Gilmore)
The must-read novel of the year -- a perfect gift for bookworms and fans of the TV series
All stars
Most relevant
An absolute must for any fan of The Handmaid’s Tales. I couldn’t stop listening and was pleased with the answers to so many questions.

Brilliant as you would expect from Margaret Atwood

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All that I hoped it would be, and performed so well. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Margaret Atwood.

Amazing, and satisfying.

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Great narration and switch of storylines.

Listening to the different stories and countries made this a good listen. This didn’t have the monotone that was evident in the handmaids tale from offreds view.

Liked to hear the ideals and thoughts from the children that grew up in Gilliard.

More lively than A handmaids tale

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Somehow, incredibly, it builds upon and improves the legacy of its predecessor. Not better than Handmaid's Tale, but an extension of it.

Simply amazing

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A great book! A real page turner full of excitement and an addictive story. If you loved the first book and the TV show you will most certainly love this book. Thank you Margaret Atwood

Excellent!

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