Margaret Atwood didn’t want to write it. For decades, she told anyone who asked that a follow-up to her 1985 masterpiece was basically impossible because she didn't know how to get back into that world without it feeling like a cheap cash-in. Then, the world changed. Suddenly, the "Handmaid's Tale sequel book" wasn't just a literary curiosity; it became a cultural necessity. The Testaments finally dropped in 2019, and honestly, it wasn't at all what people expected.
Most readers thought we’d get more Offred. We didn’t. Instead, Atwood gave us a jagged, multi-perspective thriller set fifteen years after the original ending. It’s faster. It’s meaner. It feels less like a fever dream and more like a political autopsy.
What Actually Happens in the Handmaid's Tale Sequel Book?
If you’re looking for a direct continuation of Offred’s internal monologue, you're gonna be disappointed. The Testaments shifts the lens. We get three narrators: Aunt Lydia (yes, that Aunt Lydia), a young woman in Gilead named Agnes Jemima, and a teenager in Canada named Daisy.
It’s a bold move.
By centering the story on Aunt Lydia, Atwood forces us to look at the "Handmaid's Tale sequel book" through the eyes of a villain. Or is she? That’s the central hook. We see how Lydia survived the initial purges, how she clawed her way into power, and how she’s secretly been planting the seeds to burn the whole system down from the inside. It’s messy. It’s morally grey. It’s also incredibly satisfying to see the inner workings of the Ardua Hall, the place where the Aunts run the show while the Commanders think they’re in charge.
The Three-Pronged Attack
The narrative doesn't follow a straight line.
- Aunt Lydia’s Manuscript: These are "The Ardua Hall Holographs." They’re written in secret, tucked away for a future historian to find. Lydia is snarky. She’s tired. She’s clearly the smartest person in any room, and she knows it.
- Agnes’s Testimony: This girl grew up as a privileged daughter of a Commander. Her story shows us what it’s like to be "pure" in Gilead—and how terrifyingly easy it is for that privilege to vanish the moment you hit puberty.
- Daisy’s Story: This is the Canadian perspective. Daisy is a normal teen who finds out her entire life is a lie. She’s the "Baby Nicole" that the Gilead propaganda machine has been obsessing over for years.
Why the 34-Year Wait?
Atwood is a sharp observer of reality. She famously said she didn't put anything in the first book that hadn't already happened somewhere in history. But by the late 2010s, history started repeating itself in ways that made the "Handmaid's Tale sequel book" feel urgent. The rise of authoritarian rhetoric globally and the massive success of the Hulu television adaptation created a perfect storm.
She realized she didn't need to tell Offred’s story anymore. Offred’s story was about silence and endurance. The Testaments is about the collapse of an empire.
Critics like Michiko Kakutani have noted that the sequel feels more like a "page-turner" than the original. It’s true. While the first book was poetic and claustrophobic, this one is a heist movie mixed with a spy novel. Some purists hated that. They felt it lost the "literary weight" of the original. But Atwood wasn't trying to rewrite 1985. She was writing for 2019.
The Connection to the TV Show
This is where things get slightly confusing for casual fans. Is the "Handmaid's Tale sequel book" the same as the show?
Sorta.
Bruce Miller, the showrunner for the Hulu series, worked closely with Atwood. The show has already moved far past the first book's timeline. However, The Testaments acts as a fixed North Star for the series. We know where characters like Aunt Lydia have to end up. We know the fate of Baby Nicole. The book provides the "true" ending that the show is currently building toward.
If you've watched five seasons of Elisabeth Moss staring intensely into a camera, reading the sequel might feel like a relief. It provides answers. It gives closure. It tells you exactly how the statues of the Commanders eventually get pulled down.
Real-World Parallels and E-E-A-T
When we look at the scholarship surrounding Atwood's work—thinkers like Heidi Macpherson or the archival work at the University of Toronto—there's a consensus that Atwood uses the sequel to explore "collaboration."
Gilead couldn't exist without women like Lydia.
That’s a hard truth. The "Handmaid's Tale sequel book" isn't just about heroes and villains; it’s about the compromises people make to survive a regime. Lydia isn't a hero in the traditional sense. She’s a survivor who became a monster so she could eventually kill the bigger monsters. It’s a nuanced take on power that reflects real-world historical figures who worked within fascist regimes to undermine them.
Common Misconceptions
People often think this book is a "fix-it" fic. It’s not. It doesn't undo the trauma of the first book.
Another big mistake? Thinking you need to have the original book fresh in your mind. You don't. Atwood writes with enough context that you can jump into The Testaments as long as you have a basic vibe of what Gilead is.
Some readers find the ending a bit "too neat." Compared to the ambiguous, haunting "historical notes" section of the first book, the sequel wraps things up with a bit more of a Hollywood bow. Is that a flaw? Maybe. But after decades of wondering if Gilead ever fell, most fans were just happy to see the walls come down.
Taking Action: How to Approach the Sequel
If you’re ready to dive into the "Handmaid's Tale sequel book," don't just skim it.
- Listen to the Audiobook: This is one of the rare cases where the audio version is superior. Ann Dowd (who plays Aunt Lydia in the show) narrates the Lydia sections. It is chilling. It adds a layer of menace that the text alone can't quite capture.
- Compare the Epilogues: Both books end with a "Thirteenth Symposium on Gilead Studies." Compare the tone of the professors in both. It tells you a lot about how Atwood views history and the way we distance ourselves from past horrors.
- Watch the Timeline: Pay attention to the dates. The sequel happens roughly 15 years after Offred’s final scene in the first book. Seeing how the language and the rules of Gilead have "evolved" (or decayed) in that decade-and-a-half is fascinating.
The legacy of Gilead isn't just about the suffering of the Handmaids. It's about the systemic failure of a society that thought it could control the human spirit through bureaucracy and fear. The Testaments proves that even the most tightly controlled systems have cracks. And in those cracks, people like Lydia are waiting with a sledgehammer.
Read the book for the plot, but stay for the scathing commentary on how quickly a democracy can turn into a nightmare—and how slowly, painfully, it has to be rebuilt.
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Go grab a copy. Seriously. Just be prepared for Aunt Lydia to live in your head for a few weeks afterward. It's unavoidable.
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