LISTEN to today's conversation
with Rebecca Makkai!
with Rebecca Makkai!
With themes of governmental indifference, a broken healthcare system, and survivors’ guilt, THE GREAT BELIEVERS captures the panic and rage of the period, reminds us of those who were needlessly lost, and exposes similarities to the political and social climate in the U.S. today. Makkai’s novel is more than a beautiful work of literary fiction; it is an ever-present account of the lives of those affected by AIDS.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The year is 1985 and AIDS has claimed Yale Tishman’s friend Nico. As Yale’s career begins to flourish, the carnage grows around him—his friends are dying, his partner is infected, and he might even have the virus himself. The only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. She finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways the AIDS catastrophe affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. Yale and Fiona’s stories unfold in incredibly moving and sometimes surprising ways, as both struggle to find goodness in the face of disaster. The two stories are compelling in their own right, but together, they are a masterpiece of fiction that feels entirely real.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Makkai is the author of The Hundred Year-House, The Borrower, and Music for Wartime. Her work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best American Fantasy, Harper’s, Tin House, Ploughshares, among others. She lives outside Chicago with her husband and two daughters.
