The Handmaid’s Tale (UK pace, so no spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus please)

[Ivy40]

This is a new thread where we can refer to the original book, published in 1985 (including the epilogue). Everyone is welcome to speculate on how the writers will get us from the book (end of series 1) to the epilogue (we’re assuming this will be series 10). Plus any other interesting plot developments that you have noticed.

No spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus etc please, as we in the UK are 2-3 episodes behind. We don’t want to KNOW what happens next, we just enjoy speculating and enjoy the plot development.

The basics:
Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid’s Tale in the 1980s, it was first published in 1985.

She said that she didn’t use anything that hadn’t happened in real life.

Series 1 finished at the end of the book.

There is an epilogue though.

Hulu have said that there will be 10 series.

We are assuming that series 10 will be the epilogue.

That means that Hulu have a lot of creative licence in series 2-9, as long as what they create leads to what we know is the epilogue.

Margaret Atwood is a consultant writer on the tv series.

The Testaments are being released in September 2019, written by Margaret Atwood. Set 15 years ahead of the ending in the original book and will be the stories of 4 different narrators, not June’s story. MA said that she based the Handmaid’s Tale on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, so we’re expecting “A Wife”s Tale”, “A Martha’s Tale” etc.

We’re just guessing re the book. The only things we know are what’s been published in the Guardian and the reviews - all widely published in mainstream newspapers. Sorry, I didn’t think this would be considered as spoilers.

Ah just when we thought we had a thread without any conflict 🤦‍♀️

No more discussing what might happen in The Testaments then, even though Margaret Atwood herself has said that this is a sequel to the novel and not the tv adaptation.

Well I must have been in some kind of parallel universe for the last I dunno how many weeks, because I managed not to know anything about the book beyond MA was considering writing one. And now thanks to this thread I know it's out next week, woo-hoo! Very excited.

Yes, not many people know what happens in the Testaments. It’s not officially out until Tuesday. I don’t think the reviews and extracts are spoilers are they?

I thought a spoiler would be someone who has read it coming on and telling us the plot?

Apparently 800 people in the US know about The Testaments - because Amazon sent their copies out early, by mistake!!

@sdtg

Yes, I saw that in Facebook yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

I've been lurking on these threads but not posted yet. I know the TV series has diverged away from the book but I would have still hoped that events would tie in with the epilogue eventually. I just can't see it being the case that a mass exodus of children from Gilead would not have been mentioned in the epilogue so although I did get caught up in the thrill and emotion of it all during the episode, I can't help feeling a bit flat now.

Similarly, for me the beauty and horror of the book was that Offred was just one woman amongst thousands. We didn't know her name and we didn't know what became of her. For this reason, I can't quite get on board with June as a leader of the resistance.

As for Commander Waterford, we know that he was executed in an early purge for harbouring a fugitive. Again, I'm been caught up in the excitement of his arrest in Canada but it seems that this would have been mentioned in the epilogue too. Even if he does weasel his way out of this situation in the series, is he likely to be restored to the level he once held in Gilead?

Similarly, for me the beauty and horror of the book was that Offred was just one woman amongst thousands. We didn't know her name and we didn't know what became of her. For this reason, I can't quite get on board with June as a leader of the resistance.

I agree with this but I’m starting to see the tv show as a separate entity to the book. The book and series 1 set the scene for series 2,3 and future series.

Re Fred - they haven’t always stuck exactly to the book. Emily committed suicide in the book but escapes in the tv series. Maybe they are purging him in the tv series by having him arrested and imprisoned for life (although he may get executed if the rump US still has the death penalty). Plus a trial of Fred and Serena is a good storyline to weave in.

@DinosaurFineosaur

Sorry I tried to link my comment to you as I was responding but it didn’t work!

In between obsessively checking Amazon to see if my copy of the Testaments has been dispatched yet I’ve been wondering about how influential Atwood has been on the TV series?

We found out that Hannah had been renamed Agnes in series 3 so that must have been to set up for her to be called Agnes in the Testaments, as it has been due to be released at the end of series 3 since late last year.

The thing that still bugs me is the mouth rings though. Atwood always said that she hadn’t used anything that hadn’t already been done. That was one of the horrific things about the book and series one. I don’t think she would have come up with the mouth rings idea, or agreed with it.

I’ve also just found out that Anne Dowd is the actual narrator for Aunt Lydia in the audiobook for the Testaments.

The Testaments arrived on my Kindle this morning but I'm going on holiday on Friday so I'll probably wait until then to start reading and savour it.

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE BOOK.
www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/10/the-testaments-by-margaret-atwood-review

Thanks captain. I’m getting a hard copy and it says delivery before 9pm to my work address. I leave the office at 6 though, so let’s hope it arrives before then.

I do love Anne Dowd as Aunt Lydia - it is perfect casting and she is utterly believable.

I watch The Handmaid's Tale and wonder how so many women could actually agree with the ethos of Gilead - and not just agree with it but be a committed and enthusiastic part of delivering it. And I wonder why they don't get utterly depressed as they realise everything they have given up. Even if you believe that there is lots of godless literature in the world, that damages people's morals, how can you be content at never being allowed to read your holy book, or books by your religious leaders, ever again? How can you go from being someone who is respected for her views and her writings, and who has real influence, to being a mere ornament to your husband's life, with no purpose, nothing fulfilling to do, and robbed of even the choice of colour you want to wear?

I can imagine the initial fire of enthusiasm for change - you believe the world is dreadful, going to Hell, and you and your co-religionists have the answer - and you manage to overthrow the government and install your perfect regime. Hurrah. Fireworks. Great sense of achievement.

But then all that wears off, and you are living a life with zero influence, fulfilment or purpose, and you know that that is it, for the rest of your life. How do you cope?

By the looks of it the wives slowly decay on the inside. I would, if my life consisted of watching my husband rape another woman once a month, yearning for a baby to love, and knitting.

I can see the wives slowly decaying on the inside. That’s a good way of putting it.

My copy of the Testaments is now out for delivery, really hoping it gets here before 6.

Here we go. A thread for chapters 1 and 2 of the Testaments (as chapter 1 is only two pages long).

Be careful though, as there is already a Testaments spoilers thread in the book lovers section.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3688735-The-Testaments-Margaret-Atwood-Chapters-1-2-NO-SPOILERS?watched=1

Did anyone go the theatre or cinema for the book launch? I went with DD, it was really interesting. Atwood has a curiously expressionless face, she looks like she is THINKING as she is speaking, she uses her head to punctuate rather than her eyebrows - and then her whole face lights up with a smile.

I am quite in love with the woman.

Samira Ahmed dumped her nephew's school right in it, "This dystopian novel explores what happens when women are in charge of the world" is how they described the book, or similar wording. She told Atwood, and then us, and then named the school. Ha.

It was great, delighted to see that Aunt Lydia is in the book, and am trying to figure out who the younger women are...I think I know. Will start reading this weekend.

Hello, I completely forgot to buy tickets until it was too late. I did see Margaret Atwood at Manchester Literature Festival a couple of years ago and I know exactly what you mean!

Ha re Samira Ahmed. It’s an all boys school too, isn’t it? I read something on FB earlier.

It isn’t clear who narrator 3 is until you’re a few chapters in, although a few hints are dropped. You’ll see who narrator 2 is when you see her name.

Perhaps we could also recommend other programmes that we’ve liked.

Years and Years is good - on iPlayer and a dystopian future fiction.

I’m also planning on watching Alias Grace on Netflix. It’s the only other Margaret Atwood book that’s been televised (as far as I’m aware)?