The Believers (Jill)
The Believers
By Zoe Heller
Completed October 24, 2008
The Believers by Zoe Heller is the story of the Litvinoff family – led by Joel, a political activist and lawyer whose sudden collapse from a stroke put his family into chaos – compounded when a secret was revealed that rocked the family’s already fragile structure.Joel and his wife Audrey did not believe in raising a child-centric family. They were active in the worker’s movement in New York, and Joel was known for representing radical defendants. Audrey was “unmotherly” toward her two daughters, Karla and Rosa, but had a more tender side for her down-and-out adopted son, Lenny. The book only gave the readers snippets of their childhood, but one could conclude that the family was uncompassionate toward each other – as if the passion for their causes was the only passion they could muster.
As adults, the children were a crew of confused people who latched on to their vices (or beliefs) in an extreme way. Karla was overweight and unconfident. Rosa was interested in her Jewish roots and became involved in Orthodox Judaism. And Lenny was a drug abuser who manipulated his mother for money.
It was hard to like any of these characters. Audrey was nasty; Karla, cowardly; Rosa, snobbish; and Lenny, a loser. We learned about Joel only through the eyes of his family, and even he was deplorable.
Even with the unlikable characters, the story was captivating. Like a train wreck, I could not wait to see what disaster the family averted (or did not avert) with each chapter. As the story ended, I was left with a sense that they did not learn anything from their experiences, which was slightly dissatisfying. But not every book can have a fairy tale ending.
If you like a raw look at a dysfunctional family, then I would recommend The Believers to you. It’s a quick read if you can get into the lives of these interesting yet sad characters. ( 
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