Tab Article

Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Satire, Dark Comedy
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Book Review:
Margaret Atwood, the literary maestro behind The Handmaid’s Tale, returns with The Heart Goes Last—a darkly comic, unsettlingly plausible dystopian satire set in a near-future America crumbling under economic collapse. Desperate and destitute, Charmaine and Stan seize what seems like a lifeline: the Positron Project, a social experiment that offers stable jobs and housing in exchange for a bizarre trade-off. Participants spend one month in a cushy suburban prison (“Consilience”) and the next in a locked-down town, alternating roles as inmates and civilians. The catch? Once you’re in, there’s no way out.

Atwood masterfully blends absurdity with acute social commentary, exploring themes of surveillance, commodification of life, corporate control, and the fragile nature of freedom and desire. The novel is both a gripping page-turner and a sharp critique of consumer culture, neoliberal utopias, and the erosion of privacy. As always, Atwood’s prose is incisive, witty, and rich with psychological insight.

While not as bleak or tightly focused as The Handmaid’s Tale, The Heart Goes Last showcases Atwood’s talent for blending the speculative with the intimately human. The plot twists are deliciously unpredictable, and the characters’ moral compromises feel painfully real. It’s a story about what people will trade for security—and how that trade can unravel the soul.

Fans of Atwood’s signature style—smart, provocative, and darkly funny—will find much to admire here. A brilliantly unsettling ride into a future that feels just around the corner.