The Testaments
Sep. 13th, 2020 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearAfter rereading The Handmaid's Tale a few weeks ago, I moved on to The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's recent follow-up. It seems clear this book only came about as a result of the tremendous success of the TV series based on the original - but as it is a 415-page original story, I see no reason to disparage the author for capitalising on this opportunity.
I did have some issues with The Testaments, in terms of the structure and how it holds together as what it is presented to be - three separate accounts of a specific period of time in Gilead. The way the timelines come together is a bit clunky, and the way the accounts overlap and fit together is a bit too neat to be credible.
But, that said, I have to admit it's a real page-turner and it had me gripped from start to finish. Split narratives can be tricky, as the reader is often tempted to skim over one or another strand to get back to the one they find most compelling. But I didn't have that problem at all with this - I was invested in all three narratives equally. The contrasts between the three POV characters are stark, but I liked all of them for different reasons, and they are all very well written.
I did have some issues with The Testaments, in terms of the structure and how it holds together as what it is presented to be - three separate accounts of a specific period of time in Gilead. The way the timelines come together is a bit clunky, and the way the accounts overlap and fit together is a bit too neat to be credible.
But, that said, I have to admit it's a real page-turner and it had me gripped from start to finish. Split narratives can be tricky, as the reader is often tempted to skim over one or another strand to get back to the one they find most compelling. But I didn't have that problem at all with this - I was invested in all three narratives equally. The contrasts between the three POV characters are stark, but I liked all of them for different reasons, and they are all very well written.
