The Testaments by Margaret Atwood: A Necessary Tale ?

"A BIRD OF THE AIR SHALL CARRY THE VOICE, AND THAT WHICH HATH WINGS SHALL TELL THE MATTER."

Last winner of the Man Booker Prize, debatable as if necessary to The Handmaid's Tale universe or not, The Testaments gets us back again to the much feared and revolting Republic of Gilead in an era where talks about toxic masculinity or misogyny could be considered unthinkable, yet they are a reality. This novel has a fresh air with still a cynical and bleak atmosphere with one difference from THT: hope.

ALERT, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. BEWARE.

PLOT
The novel narrates the story of Gilead from 3 points of view: Aunt Lydia, Agnes and Daisy. All these women might not appear to have nothing in common except two things: Commander Jude and Gilead.

Aunt Lydia is the strongest voice of this narrations. She is one of the multiple antagonists in The Handmaid's Tale, but similar to VC Andrews' Garden of Shadows, this novel serves as an attempt to redeem what seem an unforgivable character. We discover Aunt Lydia is plotting against Gilead as she gets more and more power as the leading Aunt in Ardua Hall, the house of all Aunts.

Agnes is the daughter of Commander Kyle, she is a child, almost a teenager who has lived almost all her life in Gilead and accepts this fate. However, she fears an impending wedding planned for her as she starts to question her origins after her mother's death and her stepmother's arrival, the latter wanting her out of the house as soon as possible.

Daisy is far from the Gilead schemes, but it is still an important piece in this multilayered universe. She is the daughter of Neil and Melanie, owners of a second-hand items store in Canada. The only thing that she knows about Gilead is that it's the worst place for a woman to live. That's what she is being taught at school. Her character's voice reminded me very much of The Year of The Flood's Ren.

The three timelines finally cross when events push the protagonists to one another, all thanks to Aunt Lydia, whose fierce and frigid voice reminds me of Iris Chase in The Blind Assassin. Daisy's parents are murdered and soon after this, she discovers she is Baby Nicole, an emblem against Gilead, a baby that was stolen several years ago from this horrible place, a hope for many but which ensued a ruthless search from Gilead's higher authorities. Agnes is about to get married to Commander Judd, but she is too scared to follow through: she is around 13 years old and does not feel capable of trying a relationship with a much older man or any man in general. Meanwhile, Aunt Lydia is scheming behind the scenes: she helps Agnes escape from her wedding by bringing her to Ardua Hall to become an Aunt, and she gets to lure Daisy back to Gilead in order to get crucial information for MayDay (underground organization working against Gilead) to finally bring down this nation of horrors.

Aunt Lydia's backstory is presented. In The Handmaid's Tale, we knew her as a woman that would brainwash, torture and do whatever it took to make sure Gilead got what they wanted: tamed woman who would become handmaids and accept this new fate without complaint. However, this novel sheds different lights on Aunt Lydia. We understand now she did not like people's suffering, she did not particularly enjoy helping a corrupt government get its way, but she is, as multiple women in Gilead, a survivor. All she has done, she has had to do it to survive.

Aunt Lydia wants to get revenge on Commander Judd who tortured her to give her the position she now holds. She has not forgotten and surely she has not overlooked the horrors these men have been doing through her, but she is done with this regime of abuse towards women. She also is ready to die and does not want to do it without burying some with her.

Agnes becomes an Aunt along with one of her schoolmates, Becka, they become Aunt Victoria and Aunt Immortelle respectively. As they are about to be tested by going to Canada as Pearl Girls (a new sub class presented in this new novel), missionaries that try to convince people to go to Gilead with the prospects of having a house and food, they have to help Jade, a newcomer that just came with the Pearl Girls that have been promoted to Aunts.

Quickly, it is revealed by Aunt Lydia that Jade is actually Daisy and that she is a sister to Agnes. This as Aunt Lydia exposes her facade and her plan to bring Gilead to an end with proof she has collected along with a holograph she has been writing throughout the novel (document where her voice comes from).

Daisy and Agnes go in a dangerous mission to come back to Canada with information hidden in a microdot, but surely things won't go as smoothly as they expect.

STRUCTURE
Three voices are used to narrate this novel.

Aunt Lydia's Holograph serves as the main narrative of the story, and the most potent. Aunt Lydia is the voice of a woman who has never believed in Gilead, but has done her best with that has been given to her.

Agnes is the voice of the women whose brains have been washed by the higher powers of Gilead, she is first the voice of an adolescent and then of a grown woman looking to become an Aunt to avoid getting married and having children (which she knows could be mortal).

Daisy's is the weakest of voices, she is a teenager that has lived free all of her life and knows nothing about suffering or repression. Her freedom, however, is dangerous when she goes to Gilead because the strength she had in Canada is useless and a cause of trouble.

The three documents are presented at the beginning of the novel as testimonies, especially Agnes and Daisy's which gives an impression that at least Agnes will be freed from Gilead but it also implies that Daisy will get hurt in the way of achieving this.

All three are told in past tense.

THEMES
Freedom of choice is the main team of the novel. The three women lead completely different lives under different circumstances; however, her choices define them: Agnes decision not to get married, Aunt Lydia's decision to survive and to destroy Gilead, Daisy's choice of going to Gilead to help a greater cause. They could have accepted their fates without fighting, by continuing with things the way they were, by letting the corrupt do as they liked as others suffered, but they took a stand at this and their efforts would help those in need of justice.

ABOUT THE ENDING:
First of all, I must say I was delighted with Aunt Lydia's character, story and voice. Her manner of speaking was just as fascinating as I expected and her vocabulary was astonishing and really impressive. I did wish we had gotten more information on her fate as the novel closed but I guess we would have to put together all the details from Mr. Piexioto's symposium to get to a conclusion (another nice touch from Mrs. Atwood).

Ending the novel with the same doctor exposing his findings was a necessary element. I admire Margaret Atwood's creativity and inventiveness. The reveal of Becka's statue was a nice touch along with the phrases Nicole and Agnes added as a reminder of her bravery, this is a mirror to the opening scene with Aunt Lydia's statue. I really liked the ending though not necessarily the ending narrations of Agnes and Nicole.

CHARACTER: 9/10 (I did not particularly like Daisy's manners, vocabulary and mannerisms, I know she was supposed to be a teenager but sometimes her interventions felt uncalled for).
PLOT DEVELOPMENT: 8/10 (I wish I had heard more from Aunt Lydia's Holograph!)
THEMES: 9/10

GRADE: Must-Read