The Heart Goes Last

A Novel

By: Margaret Atwood

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins

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 Margaret Atwood (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Thrilling, sometimes comic, often absurd and entirely engaging, spinning sins into the territory of Elvis-themed escorts, stuffed-animal carnality and customizable sexbots … What keeps The Heart Goes Last fresh, as with the rest of Atwood’s recent work, is that while it revisits earlier themes of her oeuvre, it never replicates. Rather, it reads like an exploration continued, with new surprises, both narratively and thematically, to be discovered … Margaret Atwood has become something nearly as fantastical as one of her storytelling subjects: a living legend who continues to remain fresh and innovative on the page.”—Mat Johnson, New York Times Book Review

"[The Heart Goes Last] affords an arresting perspective on the confluence of information, freedom, and security in the modern age."—The New Yorker

"This is quintessential Atwood territory, a bleak dystopian landscape littered with shady types who engage in twisted sexual manipulation and scientific engineering reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake ... The writing here is so persuasive, so crisp, that it seeps under your skin ... [This] fast-paced novel is hard to put down when it comes screaming to its clever and terrifying conclusion."—Boston Globe

Great listen!!

The story was A great listen filled with humor of every kind. I loved the narration and the surprise "gift" to the main character at the end:0)

Another great Atwood novel

Wonderful narration and great plot twists. I enjoyed every minute of this audio book!

3.5 Stars

Probably a 3.5 star for me. It was entertaining, but not something that will stay with me for long.

Great book

Great book except in chapter 5 theres a huge plot mistake. Stan and Charmaine have just been at their house for a month and are supposed to be returning to the prison, but in that same chapter they said Stan was guna be late checking into prison but yet his wife Charmaine is going to be there another month longer and was waiting to check out. plot mistake but otherthan that I like it

Disappointed with Story Development

What did you like best about The Heart Goes Last? What did you like least?

The concept for the plot was excellent. However, I expected deeper development from Atwood. At times the story advanced from plot point to plot point with no real explanation of how or why. I felt like the two main characters were almost shallow - victims of circumstance - who never really changed throughout the book. Their circumstances changed multiple times, but they themselves (and their responses) were still the same. Perhaps this was a commentary on our doe-eyed "nothing is my fault and bad things keep happening to me" younger generation. I felt that there was an over-emphasis on meaningless sex (particularly that which was initiated by one particular character). Yes, this may have been another commentary on our society, but it seemed to only be required so it could be referred back to later in the novel. Atwood also employed a form deus ex machina several times in which I thought, "Well, isn't that convenient . . . " Finally, the ending was too neat and tidy. If Atwood was making a social commentary, then I believe having an ending with all the loose ends tied up is unfitting. Having read (and loved) Atwood in the past, perhaps I expected too much. Bottom line? It was an okay listen, but I felt it lacked crafting and adequate development.

Was The Heart Goes Last worth the listening time?

If you have nothing more intriguing in your wish list, then yes.

The future

i love Margaret Atwood. Her view of the future is sometime grim, but this was grim and humorous

Dark Humor and Dystopian Musings

Choosing a Margaret Atwood novel, one always knows that human nature will be examined and dissected in all it's darker corners. What was unexpected was the humor, the cultural references, and the preeminence of plot in this story. Told through the experiences of it's two main characters, the clueless Pollyanna like wife, Charmaine, and the dissatisfied catastrophizing husband, Stan, the story follows their journey from destitute car dwellers, to an ostensible utopian community, which becomes more horrific as the novel unfolds. The narrators were fabulous, taking on, not just multiple character voices, but the tone of their attitudes and most private thoughts.  The writing, however was not as rich in imagery and language as other Atwood novels, but it's realistic quality suited the characters and fast moving plotline. Overall, I'd give it a C+, not compelling enough for a 4 star recommendation, but, as an examination of free will, extreme capitalism, and the consequences of individual choices and desires, it's worth a listen 

Enjoyable

I enjoyed this book because while parts of it were about the timeless nature of relationships other pArts were totally futuristic enough to make things interesting. Stan and his wife go from living in their car after losing everything in a national financial collapse. After spending what seems like an eternity struggling just to get by they are excepted in to a new program where they agree to live in absolute comfort in a pristine new home and one month in prison and that's when unsettling things begin to happen. The home is lovely... The prison not bad but then they are drawn in to a weird plot that each of them is only aware of from their own circumstances. Loved the bazzair twists and turns. A very different kind of story but very enjoyable.

My first Atwood

Really enjoyed this story and performance. has definitely made me an Atwood fan. Great story!

lighter tone than normal Atwood books

Any additional comments?

I think that if I had read this book in paper instead of audio, I wouldn’t have known what to make of it. The Heart Goes Last is more satirical and farcical than Atwood’s other dystopian books. But the narrators nailed it. Cassandra Campbell, who voiced Charmaine, was absolutely perfect, capturing the a character who is like a child, naive and prone to believing in fantasies but that picks up on more than people give her credit for. I don’t think I would really have gotten the character as Atwood intended if I hadn’t heard Campbell’s interpretation. Stan, voiced by Mark Deakins, is more easily relatable and Deakins does a great job of believably exposing his flaws. Plus a couple of times I thought I was listening to a toned down Nathan Fillion and that is always happy times. I couldn’t believe that this Atwood novel came out last year without me hearing a peep about it, I guess because many people didn’t like it. Probably thought it was too far off her normal tone. But I particularly enjoyed it paired with the dive into the industrial prison complex, the nature of sexuality vs lust, the examination of whether safety and security are worth trading in free-will, all written with an obvious smile on Atwood’s face. I get vicariously gleeful when reading a work that the author obviously had such a blast writing.

Definitely worth another couple of rereads and a good discussion about over hot beverages.