“The Great Believers”: A Book You Won’t Want to Miss

Heartbreaking exploration of 1980s AIDS epidemic reality in Chicago

“The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai is an emotionally charged novel set amid the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Chicago, with a parallel storyline in 2015 Paris.

The book heartbreakingly portrays the harsh reality of being a gay person during that time, when the fear of infection was constant and the loss of friends and loved ones felt inevitable.

Makkai captures the cruelty and intolerance faced by the LGBTQ+ community, such as when families would bar a partner from attending their loved one’s funeral (This topic was also recently explored in Netflix’s “Eric”).

Makkai’s writing is beautiful. She has a unique way of showcasing small, but distinctive details of personalities or appearances, making the story truly come to life.

The storylines are captivating, particularly the one taking place in Paris, where a Chicago storyline character attempts to reconnect with her estranged daughter.

Although the book felt a bit lengthy at times (and it was a bit hard to follow all the names in the Chicago storyline), it remains one of the most impressive fiction reads for me this year.

I have been to Chicago quite a lot, particularly in the Boystown and Lake View areas, and thinking of what was going on in these areas in the 1980s felt heartbreaking on an additional level of personal reference to those places.

I highly recommend The Great Believers and look forward to exploring more of Makkai’s work.

You might know that I don’t post book reviews without beer recommendations. Books and beers, this is what I do.

I live in beautiful Leith in Edinburgh, and today’s beer (and picture) is the homage to Leith.

Moonwake is a local brewery, and I am a big fan of their XPA and pale ale.

If you have a chance to try it (or even better, visit Edinburgh and try it here!), you absolutely should. I said my piece 🎤