Зои Хеллер - все книги по циклам и сериям | Книги по порядку

«Верующие» — это третий роман Зои Хеллер, написанный в жанре семейной саги (англ. Family saga) и опубликованный в 2008 году. В романе показана традиционная жизнь нью-йоркской семьи, члены которой имеют между собой мало общего. Кульминация романа происходит тогда, когда отец семейства впадает в кому из-за инсульта, после чего каждый член семьи начинает вести нетрадиционный курс жизни и в то же время пытается поддержать остальных. Все события и действующие лица в романе вымышлены. Роман состоит из IV частей и 24 глав.

From the day that Sheba Hart joins the staff at St George's, history teacher Barbara Covett is convinced that she has found a kindred spirit. When Sheba is discovered having an illicit affair with one of her pupils, Barbara appoints herself Sheba's chief defender. Yet all is not as it first appears in this dark story and as Sheba will eventually discover, a friend…

Пожилая учительница истории Барбара мучительно одинока, и дружба с новой коллегой, красивой и энергичной Шебой, становится для нее единственной отдушиной и лекарством от мизантропии. Однако очень скоро заурядная государственная школа, где они работают, превращается в подмостки скандальной драмы: замужняя Шеба заводит бурный роман с собственным несовершеннолетним…

The book opens with a prologue set in mid-sixties London, where Joel Litvinoff, an American civil rights lawyer, meets a young Englishwoman, Audrey. After a brief and apparently casual affair, she decides to go to the United States and marry him. The main narrative then commences in New York in 2002. Joel is 72 and approaching the end of a long and illustrious career as an activist lawyer. He and Audrey live in Greenwich Village and have three adult children: two daughters, Rosa and Karla, and an adopted son, Lenny. Audrey is now an acid-tongued, domineering woman in late middle age who fiercely defends, but never questions, the political stance that has shaped her life. Her most tender feelings appear to be directed towards Lenny, a frequent drug user who is incapable of personal responsibility. Karla, the neglected and under-appreciated oldest child, is a social worker who is married, not very happily, to Mike. They have been trying unsuccessfully to start a family. Rosa works with disadvantaged young girls. She is becoming increasingly interested in Judaism, a faith rejected along with all others by her Jewish parents. For this she is much derided by Audrey. Joel suffers a stroke while in court and is in a coma for most of the time span covered by the book. Audrey is convinced he is not getting proper care in the hospital and creates difficulties for its medical staff. During this time of stress, Karla’s unhappiness with her marriage rises to the surface. She begins an affair with Khaled, originally from Egypt, who runs a newspaper store at the hospital where they both work. Rosa immerses herself in the study of Orthodox Judaism and, though she finds many of its teachings difficult to accept, though she perseveres. A stranger, Berenice Mason, introduces herself to Audrey, claiming that her son is Joel’s illegitimate child. Though Audrey initially dismisses her with contempt, it emerges that her story is true and that Berenice has been receiving regular financial support from Joel. Lenny is persuaded by Audrey’s friend Jean to go to her country home in Pennsylvania for a month in order to get off drugs. He makes great progress there and, when Audrey visits, he proposes settling in Pennsylvania permanently. Appalled by the prospect of losing him, Audrey does her best to discourage the idea. Rosa abandons, and then takes up again, her studies in Orthodox Judaism deciding finally that she must pursue her religious intuitions.Joel dies without regaining consciousness. At his funeral, which is attended by thousands, Audrey gives a eulogy in which she celebrates her 40-year marriage to her husband and makes a public acknowledgment of Berenice and her son. At the reception afterwards, Karla makes a last-minute, momentous decision regarding her own marriage.

Люди любят поговорить о своих убеждениях. Но как они воплощают их в жизнь?
Для героев своего нового романа Зои Хеллер - одновременно и злой следователь, и добрый. То с сочувствием, то с сарказмом она описывает их поступки и желания. Почти сорок лет назад Одри вышла замуж за адвоката Джоэля Литвинова, защитника угнетенных, обездоленных и бесправных. Спустя десятилетия супруги Литвиновы являются истинным символом либеральных ценностей, и детей своих они воспитывали в том же духе. Но на закате жизни выяснилось, что одними убеждениями человек сыт не будет, и даже у самых честных и принципиальных найдется свой скелет в шкафу. Едкая комедия, семейная драма, диагноз современной интеллигенции - каждый найдет свое в этом великолепном многоголосом романе.