A crisis of confidence

The Believers, by Zoë Heller

Zoë Heller’s Notes on a Scandal won wide publicity and was deservedly praised for its depiction of female malice and the unhappiness that fosters it. Her present novel is so markedly different that it might have been written by another hand. This is no mean feat, but the effect is disconcerting. To begin with, it is completely Americanised, not only in its setting but in its locution, so that the reader must constantly adjust to different idioms, different references. This too is no mean feat, but somewhat alienating, as are the characters, who are universally charmless. The title is only one indication of their unreliability: they have beliefs which turn out to be misplaced and which have little connection with their behaviour. This behaviour, outwardly worthy, is at war with such beliefs as they publicly flaunt. They are in fact cheats, and there may be a wider point here: that most creeds should be accepted at face value, not least when they are used to divert attention to the ineradicable flaws of basic temperament. Although the novel antedates the current debate, it can be no coincidence that all roads seem to converge on Darwin.

The story begins in London, where Audrey (no surname) is rapidly seduced by Joel Litvinoff, a charismatic lawyer some years her senior. The scene shifts to New York, where the lawyer is famous for his espousal of radical causes. Audrey, now a foul-mouthed termagant, is the mother of two daughters, Karla and Rosa, and stepmother of Lenny. Both daughters are social-workers, one in a hospital, the other in an outreach educational programme. Lenny, meanwhile, is a drug-taking layabout. When the lawyer has a stroke and goes into a coma, he is effectively removed from the story.