The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on September 29th 2015
Genres: Action & Adventure, Dystopian, Fiction, Humorous, Science Fiction
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

Margaret Atwood puts the human heart to the ultimate test in an utterly brilliant new novel that is as visionary as The Handmaid's Tale and as richly imagined as The Blind Assassin.     Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around—and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in . . . for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes.     At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.From the Hardcover edition.

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that, althoughThe Handmaid’s Tale has been on my bookshelf for over ten years, it wasn’t until 2015 that I finally read my first Atwood book. Upon closing that book, I became an instant fan, and was super stoked to check out her latest novel, The Heart Goes Last. (I’m also quite embarrassed that I read this book months ago and am just now getting around to writing my review).

One of the things that enthralled me about The Handmaid’s Tale was the terrifying yet realistic landscape in which the story takes place. Nearly 30 years after its publication, I found myself thinking about how easily the world today could become Offred’s Republic of Gilead. In The Heart Goes Last, Atwood was able to recreate that sense of foreboding. I think about the world today and the issue of income inequality, and I can see the distinct possibility of one day living in the same world as Stan and Charmaine.

Something else I like about Atwood’s style is that she doesn’t fill in all the details. Atwood alludes to Char’s troubled past and Stan’s tumultuous relation with his brother, but she doesn’t spell it out for the reader. I really like that. I think this adds to the realism of such a story. In real life, we are rarely privy to all the gory details about a person. This way it feels like the reader is part of the story, existing as a member of this dystopian society, and not merely viewing it as an outsider.

While I basked in the realness of the world and its characters, the plot was a less realistic to me. I felt like Stan and Char bought into this Consilience scheme a little bit too easily. And from that point the story, the events that unfolded seemed increasingly unbelievable. Entertaining, yes, but utterly unbelievable.

There’s more I could say about this book, but I will refrain in order to avoid spoilers. I will say that after finishing the book, I found myself arguing internally about some of the goings-on in the story. Whenever this happens, I feel it is a testament to the book if it can stay in your head well after you’ve returned it to the shelf. This book definitely did that.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re a Margaret Atwood fan, but also if you like stories set in in well build worlds (even if they can be a bit scary).

Also, I have definitely been added to the ranks of Atwood admirers.