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The Testaments

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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

©2019 Margaret Atwood (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Dystopian Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Thought-Provoking Classics

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Critic reviews

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)
Most relevant
as a lover of the first book, I found this book equal as good. it has lived up to it promise of answering many questions, however I am left with few to which I hope the show will answer. this is a must buy, I have truly enjoyed this book, I finished it with in a day.

amazing

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This sequel is so much better than the awful series 2 of the television adaptation(although we have to thank series 1, which was good, for widening the interest in the story). It was so good that Anne Dowd was such a major part of this audiobook as she remained great throughout the television adaptation. Great audiobook!

Does not disappoint

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A review has to have at least fifteen words, so here are my fifteen words.

Somewhere between Handmaids Tale and Hunger Games

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This book is the sequel to The Handmaids Tale. It is told from the viewpoint of three characters. The book answers a lot of much needed questions. I shall not spoil it, but it's definitely a must read!

wow!

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I loved this audio - the performers were perfect - I felt like each time I listened I entered Gilead , thankfully only as a voyeur able to dip in and out - the story for me was needless to say , worth waiting for - I’d like to end this humorously , by saying praise be - only its too chilling , it really is . So this is for all the women who are married to commanders, to the women in the world that live within oppression of so many forms , thank you Margaret Atwood for your words - those of us who can read them .

Fantastic

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A worthy sequel to A Handmaid’s Tale, with powerful, real, 3 dimensional women on both sides of Gilead’s borders. Highly recommend

Brilliant, insightful and gripping

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A wonderful performance by the actors of a great story. Can you binge listen? I just did. Required listening for those who loved the Handmaid's tale.

Compelling

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Loved it. Gripping. Seemed a lot shorter than The Handmaid's Tale. I wanted more of it. 😍

Gripping...

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Great follow up to the previous story and an interesting twist to the plot
I was gripped by the whole concept and was not disappointed

Fitting

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Gripping and informative. answers every question raised by Handmaid's Tale. A warning to us all.

Stunning sequel

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