Yale Tishman is one of Nico's many friends who have gathered to honor his memory at a small party. At the same time, not far away, an official funeral is being held in a church, organized by the family, who have made it clear that his friends are not welcome. It's Chicago, it's 1985, and those friends are gay.

In the old days, perhaps, Yale would have had everything he needed to be happy: a stable relationship, a close-knit group of friends, and a promising career. But it's Chicago, it's 1985, and AIDS is wreaking havoc: one by one, his friends fall ill, and with each passing day the virus tightens its grip on Yale. Soon, all he can rely on is Nico's younger sister, Fiona. Three decades later, Fiona is in Paris, trying to locate her daughter, who years ago turned her back on her and disappeared. Staying with a friend from her old days, Fiona is still dealing with the devastating after-effects of that terrible time on her life and her relationship with her daughter.

Weaving together the stories of Yale and Fiona, Rebecca Makkai offers us a formidable novel that reflects on illness and death, but above all on the power of life, love and friendship. The Optimists faithfully recreates the daily life of the gay community in the eighties, the paradoxical atmosphere of vitality and hope for the freedoms won, and of uncertainty and fear in an era in which a positive test was equivalent to a death sentence. Brutal and emotional, this novel portrays with great humanity optimistic beings who, even in the midst of the most terrifying disaster, continue to believe in goodness.