THE GREAT BELIEVERS
by Rebecca Makkai
Just about one year ago, Random House put out its list of best books of the decade to celebrate entering the 2020s. Little did they know that this book about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 80s would resonate so strongly as we all face a widespread and lethal epidemic in the first year of this new decade.
Despite it being difficult to read about a disease wiping out a community while sheltering at home to protect my own family, this book is extraordinary and not to be missed. Makkai has a such a gift for character and storytelling that I found myself emotionally connected almost from the first pages and had that lost-a-friend feeling at the end.
The story is told in alternating chapters set in mid-80s Chicago and 2015 Paris. In the 80s, we follow Yale Tishman, a young gay man who raises funds for an art gallery as he navigates the deadly plague that is sweeping through his community. He loses friends and deals with his own fears while trying to avoid the climate of accusation and scorn that surrounded AIDS at that time. In 2015, a middle-aged Fiona searches for her daughter from whom she has been estranged for almost three years. She has reason to believe she might be in Paris so she begins to search the city while staying with an old friend of her brother’s. Fiona’s brother was one of the first of Yale’s friend group to die of AIDS, so her character is the one that ties the two stories together.
The Great Believers beautifully balances a riveting plot and true emotional depth, and already ranks high on my list of favorite books for this year, even if it’s only January. (Lily)
