Thursday, March 12, 2009

Author Zoe Heller at Books & Books


Well, here's a spot of serendipity for you. I recently blogged about The Believers by Zoe Heller, a book I'd read about in the Very Short List e-newsletter. Now it turns out that Zoe is coming to town. She'll be appearing at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8pm. If you can't attend, but would like an autographed copy, call the bookstore at (305) 442-4408 to prepay and they'll have one signed and reserved for you.

The e-announcement I got from Books & Books describes The Believers:


When radical New York lawyer Joel Litvinoff is felled by a stroke, his wife, Audrey, uncovers a secret that forces her to reexamine everything she thought she knew about their forty-year marriage. Joel’s children will soon have to come to terms with this discovery themselves, but for the meantime, they are struggling with their own dilemmas and doubts.

Rosa, a disillusioned revolutionary, has found herself drawn into the world of Orthodox Judaism and is now being pressed to make a commitment to that religion. Karla, a devoted social worker hoping to adopt a child with her husband, is falling in love with the owner of a newspaper stand outside her office. Ne’er-do-well Lenny is living at home, approaching another relapse into heroin addiction.

In the course of battling their own demons—and one another—the Litvinoff clan is called upon to examine long-held articles of faith that have formed the basis of their lives together and their identities as individuals. In the end, all the family members will have to answer their own questions and decide what—if anything—they still believe in.

Hailed by the Sunday Times (London) as "one of the outstanding novels of the year," The Believers explores big ideas with a light touch, delivering a tragic, comic family story as unsparing as it is filled with compassion.

No comments: