Book Club Guide

The Testaments

by Margaret Atwood · 2019 · Dystopian

Key themes

Fifteen years after The Handmaid's Tale — what Gilead became
Three women whose testimonies together dismantle a theocracy
The documents that survive — and how testimony becomes history

About this book

15 years after the sons of Jacob seized power in the USA and became Gilead. The story is told from three female viewpoints; Daisy, Agnes and Lydia. Daisy struggles with coming to the realization of he

Published in 2019, The Testaments shared the Booker Prize with Girl, Woman, Other. Atwood described writing it partly in response to the television adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale and questions about what happened next.

Discussion questions

The Testaments is structured as three testimonies discovered 150 years in the future. How does Atwood use this archival frame — and what does it say about how oppressive states are eventually dismantled?
Aunt Lydia is the most surprising and complex narrator — a woman who collaborated to survive and then uses her position to subvert from within. How does Atwood develop this moral complexity?
The novel is more plot-driven and less formally radical than The Handmaid's Tale. How do you assess this choice — and does The Testaments earn its place as a sequel?
The Testaments shared the Booker Prize with Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other. What does it do that earns this recognition — and do you agree with the joint award?
The novel ended the long wait for a sequel. Does it answer the questions The Handmaid's Tale left open — and does it do so satisfyingly?