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The Great Believers

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The Great Believers

By: Rebecca Makkai
Narrated by: Michael Crouch
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About this listen

WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS

WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD - BARBARA GITTINGS LITERATURE AWARD

FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES FICTION AWARD

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup: bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDs epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, he finds his partner is infected, and that 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. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago epidemic, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways the AIDS crisis 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.

©2019 Rebecca Makkai (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK Contemporary Fiction Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Chicago

Critic reviews

an antidote to our general urge to forget what we'd rather not remember, but it's also - which is more important - an absorbing and emotionally riveting story about what it's like to live during times of crisis (Michael Cunningham)
Stirring, spellbinding and full of life (Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife)
Well imagined, intricately plotted, and deeply felt, both humane and human (Rabih Alameddine, author of The Angel of History and An Unnecessary Woman)
All stars
Most relevant
Such a wonderfully written book. So real and at times brutal, the characters felt so real.

It was beautiful

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Yale and Fiona are two characters who will live on in my head for the rest of my life. all of the characters are so well developed that each death hits you round the head, humanised a brutal time in living history and reminds us of the people behind the disease. I felt completely knocked out by this novel and cannot recommend it enough.

devastatingly beautiful portrayal of the 1980s aids crisis and the impact on those left behind.

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I loved this book, being born in 86 I didn't know much of the Aids crisis part from little bit. This book brought it to life and the male characters are family. Fiona story I was less interested in however enjoyed the ending.

Highly recommended

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Was a great heartfelt book that I still think about today! Please read it is worth it

Has really stayed with me

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This is not the book I thought I would enjoy but it was on offer and thought to give it a try. Even though the subject matter is quite bleak it is very well written and expertly narrated. I would recommend especially since I have never read anything similar on the subject matter and it kept my interest throughout

Very good

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