The Believers

The Believers (2008), a novel by British author Zoë Heller, is a character study exploring the lives of each member of the Litvinoff family, headed by the controversial, politically radical lawyer Joel and his wife, the hardline revolutionary Audrey. In the wake of a stroke that brings Joel to the brink of death, each member of the family must confront secrets, betrayals, and contradictions, as well as the consequences of their own decisions and ideological dedication.

The novel opens in 1962, at a party in London, where Audrey, a young British woman meets Joel, a clever Jewish American lawyer 14 years her senior. Not long after, they spend the night together, and in the rush of the afterglow—and the idealism of their youth and burgeoning political crusading—Joel suggests they marry, and she return with him to the States. Audrey accepts.

The narrative then skips ahead 40 years to New York City. Joel and Audrey remain together, bound by their almost ruthless dedication to far-left causes. They are also minor celebrities, with Joel's politically conscious legal activism often making news and Audrey always fervently, uncompromisingly supporting her husband's stances. Joel again hits the headlines when he agrees to represent Mohammed Hassani, an Arab man accused of terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the city. However, secretly, Joel questions his ability to adequately defend Mohammed. Joel is a staunch atheist, and Mohammed a devout Muslim.



Shortly after agreeing to take the case, Joel suffers a stroke. As he languishes in a coma, his fate uncertain, Audrey brings her hardline tactics to the hospital, lashing out at medical personnel and members of her own family.

One of those members is their youngest daughter Rosa, named after the socialist icon Rosa Luxembourg. For many years, Rosa has patterned her approach to life and politics after her father. She even spent several years living in socialist Cuba, only to return home disillusioned and no longer believing the same things her father believes. She works at an afterschool program for wayward girls and has become interested in her father's (denied) faith of Judaism. Instead of joining the more progressive wing of Judaism, Rosa finds her place in Orthodox teachings.

Another family member entering the fray is daughter Karla, named after Karl Marx. Karla, a hospital social worker, is not as religiously active as her sister or as politically involved as her parents. Frumpy and depressed much of the time, she is married to Mike who pressures her to start a family, even though she has zero interest in motherhood. In a desperate attempt to find some type of fulfillment in her life, Karla begins an affair with an Egyptian man, Khaled, who operates the newsstand at the hospital.



Then there is the oldest child, Lenny, whom Joel and Audrey adopted when he was seven years old after his ecoterrorist mother robbed a bank and landed in prison. Joel and Audrey adopted Lenny as a kind of experiment, a way to prove that tribal, communal childrearing practices and expanded families were not only possible but healthy for the child. Unfortunately, Lenny's journey through life has been just as bumpy, if not bumpier, than his sisters'. He struggles with addiction and has spent much of his adulthood in and out of rehab. His failed attempts at sobriety frustrate Joel to the point that the two are virtually estranged. In recent months, Lenny maintains his sobriety through the help of a spiritual 12-step program—a fact that doesn't sit well with militant atheist Audrey.

On the fringes of the Litvinoff family is Berenice Mason, Joel's African American mistress, with whom he shares a son, Jamil. When Berenice writes a letter to Audrey, informing her about the longtime affair and about Jamil, Audrey refuses to believe it.

Meanwhile, Audrey's inability to control Joel's health or medical treatment, or her children's lives, or Berenice and Jamil's existence, sink her into a pit of despair. She stops cleaning her house and taking care of herself. When the doctors inform her that it is time to remove Joel from life-support equipment, she again becomes enraged—even though she and Joel had previously agreed this is what they wanted if such an event ever occurred, in line with their pro-choice political views.



Rosa and Karla visit Berenice. The girls learn she is into New Age mysticism, and Berenice asks to have a relationship with them, even if it must be kept from their mother.

Soon, Joel contracts an infection, and doctors summon Audrey and the children to the hospital to say their last goodbyes. They surround him and each speaks aloud—alternately venting, chastising, making peace, and realizing all the ways they have both championed and failed one another. In the midst of all the talking, Joel dies.

At his funeral, Audrey gives a eulogy in which she celebrates Joel's political and social activism and the accomplishments he made during his life. Then, she calls Berenice and Jamil to the podium and announces who they are, explaining that they are living proof of Joel's commitment to communal childrearing and expanded families. She also announces a scholarship in Joel's name. After the ceremony, when her friend Jean asks her why she is suddenly so generous, Audrey coldly brushes her off, thereby reverting to her old, angry ways.



Lenny shows up at the funeral, having recently relapsed. Rosa informs Audrey that she plans to go to Israel to study the Torah. Mike looks for Karla at the post-funeral reception but cannot find her: She is on her way to meet Khaled.