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The Heart Goes Last  By  cover art

The Heart Goes Last

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins
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Publisher's summary

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.

©2015 O.W. Toad Ltd (P)2015 Penguin Random House LLC

Critic reviews

"The outstanding novelist of our age." ( The Sunday Times)
"Atwood makes it look so easy, doing what she does best: tenderly dissecting the human heart . A marvellous writer." ( The Daily Mail)

What listeners say about The Heart Goes Last

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Not her best

These readers are fabulous, but I didn’t feel this was Atwood’s best. The story wasn’t terribly imaginative and it seemed like a vehicle for a hackneyed idea. None of her usual sparkling intelligence.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Compelling story, distracting performance.

The story had many twists and turns and I found myself binging it despite Charmaine being incredibly hard to listen to. I found her particular voice and character really distracting and whiney and often wondered why the male narrator didn't do more of the other male voices instead of it coming off as husky variations of Jocelyn. It took away from intended impact and would recommend reading this rather than listening to the audio book.

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