Product DescriptionFrom the internationally bestselling author of Brooklyn and The Master comes the novel of a lifetime, Colm Tóibín's most dazzling and ambitious book yet.When the Great War breaks out in 1914 Thomas Mann, like so many of his fellow countrymen, is fired up with patriotism. He imagines the Germany of great literature and music, that had drawn him away from the stifling, conservative town of his childhood, might be a source of pride once again. But his flawed vision will form the beginning of a dark and complex relationship with his homeland, and see the start of great conflict within his own brilliant and troubled family.Colm Tóibín's epic novel is the story of a man of intense contradictions. Although Thomas Mann becomes famous and admired, his inner life is hesitant, fearful and secretive. His blindness to impending disaster in the Great War will force him to rethink his relationship to Germany as Hitler comes to power. He has six children with his clever and fascinating wife, Katia, while his own secret desires appear threaded through his writing. He and Katia deal with exile bravely, doing everything possible to keep the family safe, yet they also suffer the terrible ravages of suicide among Thomas's siblings and their own children.In The Magician, Colm Tóibín captures the profound personal conflict of a very public life, and through this life creates an intimate portrait of the twentieth century.Review“A sweeping biographical portrait of Nobel-winning German novelist Thomas Mann, nicknamed the Magician by his fascinating children. Tóibín masterfully explores the tension between the admired public figure and his timorous private self. . . . Wholly immersive.”-Toronto Star“An enormously ambitious book, one in which the intimate and the momentous are exquisitely balanced. . . . Tóibín has fashioned an epic.”-The Guardian (UK)“Extensively researched and lyrically wrought. . . . A complex but empathetic portrayal of a writer in a lifelong battle against his innermost desires, his family and the tumultuous times they endure.”-Time“An incisive and witty novel. . . . The Magician is Mann-sized, but it canters along not only on the strength of Tóibín’s graceful prose, but also because the reader can hardly wait for the next bon mot from a family member or guest.”-Washington Post“It’s hard not to talk about Colm Tóibín’s latest novel . . . in the loftiest of terms, as something staggering, or dazzling, or an achievement. Yet given the epic sweep of the book . . . these accolades feel deserving. . . . If you’re willing to give yourself over to the vast and stunningly realized world that Tóibín conjures around Mann, you’ll find yourself savoring every page.”-Vogue“This deeply researched, highly accomplished fictional narrative . . . makes for compelling reading.”-BookPage“The Magician is a marvel, and so is Colm Tóibín.”-Literary Hub“Marvelously executed and absorbing. . . . Colm Toíbín’s intelligence is great as his knowledge of literature and his empathetic imagination. He’s a magician too, a conjuror, but he reconstructs ghosts rather than banishes them.”-Book Post“Employing luxurious prose that quietly evokes the tortured soul behind these literary masterpieces, Tóibín has an unequalled gift for mapping the interior of genius. In Mann, Toibin finds the ideal muse, one whose interior is so rich and vast that only a similar genius could hope to capture it.”-Booklist“Can a novel about historical figures make them visible in ways that a biography cannot? Colm Tóibín is hardly the first novelist to explore this question, but he is one of the more powerful, and perhaps the most determined.”-Wall Street Journal“Gripping. . . . [Told with] a thriller-like intensity.”-Seattle Times“Little by little the inexorably accumulating details make Tóibín’s Mann more interesting than the mere facts of his admittedly larger-than-life story. . . . The book gets its momentum and heft from th

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