The Testaments

Was Margaret Atwood's The Testaments much easier to read than The Handmaid's Tale (of which it is a sequel) because The Handmaid's Tale told such a dire dystopian story which seems far too similar to what we're living in now and The Testaments seemed somehow more hopeful? The Testaments was more "entertaining" and less horrific on many different levels.

The Testaments takes place about 25 years after The Handmaid's Tale. It's told from 3 different perspectives: Aunt Lydia, one of the female elders of the community and from two teenage girls, one growing up in Gilead and the other growing up in Canada. In many ways, this is a typical coming-of-age story, even though the upbringings of the girls is anything but typical. It gives us a much better idea of the workings of Gilead.

I don't want to give too much away and I'm struggling to give you a better idea of the plot of the book without spoiling it for you. Of the two books, The Handmaid's Tale is the one with the larger message, the one that is more scary and the one that really makes you think.