The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It would seem Margaret Atwood’s summation of The Handmaid’s Tale has solicited, as much of her work, strong reaction. For myself, it was a fascinating and plausible development of background for the nation of Gilead, its founders and visionaries, despotic and reactionary as they are, as well as those who sought to destroy the regime from within.

Without giving away too much of the plot, Atwood creates a twist from a character least expected to play the counter-revolutionary. It is a brilliant ploy, in a novel which is relentless in its barren landscape both of the mind and environment, matched by a writing style which is equally spare and devoid of embellishment save for the razor edge of wit and insight. This is a raw story, told in a raw fashion, with raw language.

Like Atwood or not, there is no gainsaying she is a visionary author, with towering ability, and a canon of work which will endure. Recommended reading.

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