The Testaments (HANDMAID’S TALE UK PACE)

[EmpressaurusOfWitchesBackFromTheDead]

A thread to talk about The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (with spoilers) and also how it relates to The Handmaid’s Tale. Please stick to UK pace for THT references! We’ve got as far as Dear Offred.

Under his eye.

I read TT at the start of the year and have watched THT at US pace so will have to be careful about what I say!

Praise be!

The creepy woman in the park talking about ‘Baby Nicole’ sounded like a nod to The Testaments. It’s really interesting to see the seeds being sown - Aunt Lydia starting to change her views in response to Janine & Lawrence, too.

Yes I agree, it's definitely heading that way.

I heard the main characters, I think it was June, the Aunt and Margaret Atwood read it at the national a few years ago.

is it on TV now?

No, but they’re apparently going to make it into a series.

Thanks for the thread. I read this when it came out and can't really remember much about it. It was interesting but I wasn't overly impressed with it, IYSWIM.

I did really enjoy the Testaments, but I agree with a lot of people that it wasn't as deep as THT and seems like it was written for TV.

Love how the current series is setting up for TT

Is this a follow on from Handmade tale book? Do I read that first then this?

Yes.

Yes read The Handmaids Tale first.

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I heartily disliked, and was heartily disappointed by, The Testaments - and I felt that the main relation to Handmaid was that the television success pushed Atwood to cash in with a sequel.

I think I read somewhere that she wanted to maintain control of the story.

I just re read The Testaments. I'm one of a few who enjoyed it actually. Not in any way as much as The Handmaids Tale which was life changing when I read it. It changed many of my views and set me on a path of feminism. But, i did like the fact of finishing off stories and just generally getting more of a fix of the story.

We are on week 7 of the series where Serena has just given birth.

I feel quite sad in some ways thst I know of the story arc of some characters. Hannah/Agnes and Nichole and a little bit of June's too.

But, I am fascinated by Aunt Lydia's turning of attitude. I was interested in how we went from Aunt Lydia's THL character to where she was in TT. And we are seeing that.

I may be wrong but is there any mention of Serena or maybe Noah in TT?

When June came out of the apple shop, she passed that second hand clothes shop with racks on the pavement - a reference to the Clothes Hound??

I may be wrong but is there any mention of Serena or maybe Noah in TT?

Pretty sure not. Serena in THT the book was meant to be older, wasn't she?

I thought the exact same thing!!!!

I listened to an interview with Bruce Miller, the showrunner, yesterday. He said that Margaret Atwood had told him to name the baby Nicole & not to kill off Aunt Lydia, but that the book version of The Testaments was a sequel to the book & the TV version would be a sequel to the TV show. Which makes sense - the versions of THT are already too far apart for the sequels to match. I’m assuming it will still be about Hannah & Nicole though.

Oooh, that's interesting Empress I have been wondering how the tv series and the book would come together.

Is it worth reading The Testaments having read The Handmaid's Tale but not seen the TV dramatisation of it? That might sound like a silly question but I keep hearing that TT is based heavily on the narrative of TV series, which seems to consist of many more episodes than can possibly be drawn directly from the novel?

Perfectly worth it!