The Great Believers

Genre: Fiction

This is the story of Yale, a gay man, working as a director of an art gallery in Chicago, in 1985. Yale's friends are dying all around him because of AIDS. The story begins with his good friend's, Nico, funeral. Nico's parents have disowned him because he is gay, but his sister, Fiona, is a constant presence in his life and becomes a constant presence in the lives of all of his friends; the majority of whom, will also die a gruesome death from AIDS. Fast forward to about 20 years later, Fiona is searching for her adult daughter in Paris. Fiona and her husband have divorced, but pull together to find their long-estranged and missing only child. Fiona stays with one of her brother's old friends and feels the weight, again, of being the soul memory-keeper of an entire group of men who have perished. Or is she the only one left? Fiona and Yale's stories are told alternately from 1980's and 2010's, from his perspective and then hers. This is a story of friendship through the toughest of times, and learning that sometimes the greatest act of love is letting go.

I love this story for many reasons, mostly because of its subject matter, AIDS. I haven't read many stories about AIDS (if you have, please share the book names in the comment section below). I remember the AIDS quilt coming to my high school (in the early 90's) and volunteering for it with a friend when it came to Washington DC and covered the entire Mall lawn. So many lives lost! Each square representing a person, a story, a beginning and an end. I remember being very moved by it. By telling the story of these characters, this book gives this epidemic a more personal perspective. That said, I think Makkai didn't go deep enough. The story focuses on Yale's adult life and relationships, but we learn little about his past and his family. We also meet many characters along the way that I wish we learned more about, including Fiona and Nico. Makkai writes quite a bit about the artwork donated to the gallery and Yale's work around that, but what I really wanted to learn more about is the life these men lived before AIDS and more about what it was like for them during this scary time in their community. I'm not sure that including Fiona's story was entirely successful from this perspective (although I really like Fiona's story and wanted to learn more about her). It's almost like there are two competing stories in one book. Giving this epidemic a personal connection is what story telling is about and I wish there was more on these men that I slowly came to like and wanted to learn more about.