A review by leahthebooklover
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

challenging emotional sad

3.5

Compelling book about the early HIV/AIDS crisis (mid 1980's). Set in Chicago, the plot follows the lives of a  community of professional gay men as one by one they contract HIV, become sick, and die. The first of the group to die is Nico, followed not long after by his partner. Somehow, Nico's little sister Fiona ends up being a caregiver to his friends, but she feels particularly close to Yale Tishman, who works as a development director for a university art museum. Through his friendship with Nico and Fiona, he is approached by Nora, an elderly woman about donating her remarkable collection of sketches and drawing by some well known artists from early 20th century France. As Yale is about to score this career-making professional coup, his personal life begins to implode. A second timeline follows Fiona in 2015 as she searches for her estranged daughter and grandchild in Paris. As she searches, she begins to acknowledge how the trauma of losing her brother and so many of his/her friends to the seemingly unstoppable HIV virus affected her capacity to be a good wife and mother. A story of tragic loss; of lives, loves, and potential. The 1980's timeline was by far the most effective plotline. Nora's reminiscences about her life in Paris pre and post WWI were interesting but distracted from the momentum of the main story. Fiona's 2015 story, although informative about the devastation experienced by those "left behind" in the wake of the AIDS crisis, didn't have nearly the same emotional impact as Yale's account. 2 stars for Nora's story, 3 for Fiona's, and 4.5 for Yale's. Final rating 3.5 stars.