In the shadowed corners of 1980s Chicago, amidst the burgeoning specter of the AIDS crisis, Rebecca Makkai crafts a narrative as tender as it is powerful in "The Great Believers." Through the interwoven lives of Yale Tishman, a gallery development director on the brink of a career-defining triumph, and Fiona, whose brother's death to AIDS marks the beginning of her lifelong grappling with loss and estrangement, Makkai navigates the complexities of friendship, art, and the relentless march of an epidemic that carves scars into the heart of a community. As Yale's world unravels with the advancing disease, and Fiona, thirty years later, searches the streets of Paris for her missing daughter, their stories converge in a poignant exploration of hope and the ways in which tragedy shapes the human soul. Makkai's narrative is a masterful depiction of the era's emotional landscape, where personal and collective grief intersect with the vibrant life of Chicago's art scene and the haunting beauty of Paris. "The Great Believers" is not merely a tale of survival in the face of despair but a luminous testament to the enduring capacity of love to emerge, even in our darkest hours. With stunning prose and empathetic insight, Makkai delivers a novel that is both a significant cultural commentary and an intimate portrait of loss and redemption, securing its place as a resonant and enduring piece of literature.