Finished: The Testaments (Atwood) The much awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale was excellent, and a satisfying read if you've been wondering what happened after the end of the first book. You might have to brush up on that book before reading this one to remember the different characters. If you watched the series on TV, then you will be pretty much in tune with all the characters! This recap will have major spoilers, so I really suggest you not read past this point if you're going to read the book. The book was hard to put down and so well written. It's told from the viewpoints of three main characters, whose identities you figure out rather quickly. However, the different time periods that the story is told in may throw you at first, as you think they're all being told at the same time. I never thought I'd enjoy a book where one of the main narrators was Aunt Lydia! However, her back story was tragic, as are all of the women's back stories in the Gilead world. She survived and made herself into what she was, which rather seemed like a monster both in the first book and in the series. She did that to ensure her own safety. What is stunning in The Testaments is that she's actually working from deep inside, from her position of power, to bring down Gilead! Her machinations are deft and always ten steps ahead of the man in charge, Commander Judd. The other two narrators are girls when we meet them, and one is about 16 and the other about 23 as their identities are revealed. They are giving testaments to their own life stories, again, both tragic in the Gilead world and the Gilead-influenced Canadian world. They end up being the two daughters of June, otherwise known as Offred. Her oldest daughter, whose name is now Agnes, loves the mother who has raised her, and believes her story that she "rescued" Agnes from terrible people, chose her from all the other children, and ran with her to safety from the forest. Agnes has no memory of her real parents, but comes to know her story as she gains access to the genealogy trees of all the handmaids in Gilead. Agnes refuses to get married when she's 14, threatens to take her own life, and begs the Aunts to take her into their charge where she will become an Aunt herself. Aunt Lydia agrees. Meanwhile, baby Nicole, who had been rescued from Gilead by her mother, has also grown up with parents who are not really hers. She is now known as Daisy. They have loved her and protected her, but they have also been deeply working for the Mayday organization which helps women and children escape from Gilead. When they are murdered on what Daisy thinks is her 16th birthday, Daisy is spirited away by a good friend of her mother's, Ada. Ada moves her around and finally explains to her that she's the baby Nicole that all the children of Canada have learned about in school...the famous baby who was rescued from Gilead that Gilead has been searching for for years. Her real mother gave her up as an infant to protect her, but has kept her eye on her all these years. As it turns out, the only place to keep Daisy safe is Gilead itself! Ada and the Mayday organization have been in touch with their deep cover mole (who we all know is Aunt Lydia) and Aunt Lydia says she will be able to blow the entire Gilead operation apart if they can send her baby Nicole to help with the cause. So, Daisy is smuggled back IN to Gilead, and put under Aunt Lydia's charge. When Aunt Lydia finally explains to Daisy and Agnes that they are actually sisters, both daughters of a handmaid who'd been quite a rebel, they agree to transport all Aunt Lydia's knowledge of the evil doings of Gilead back over the border to Canada with a microchip implanted in Daisy's arm. Of course, the trip back is very suspenseful, but the sisters finally make it, and are embraced by their real mother at the hospital. Gilead is brought down by these brave women (and a handful of men). The last we see of Aunt Lydia, there is loud knocking on her door and we assume she is arrested. We don't witness her demise, but she had been ready to give her life for the cause. This was such a good book and a great wrap up of the stories of these characters. It might also be nice, though, to see another book that explores exactly what June was doing all that time.....though we may see more of that in the TV series!