The German novelist Thomas Mann (1875-1955) led an overwhelmingly “sedentary existence”, said Lucy Hughes-Hallett in The Guardian: most of his adult life was either spent “behind a desk”, creating the works that brought him wealth and fame (such as Buddenbrooks and Death in Venice), or “going for sedate little postprandial walks with his wife”.
Yet from such unpromising material, Colm Tóibín has fashioned a “compelling fictionalised biography” – which exquisitely balances the “intimate and the momentous”.
This isn’t the first time Tóibín has portrayed a writer who subsumed his homosexual desires into his work, said Dwight Garner in The New York Times: in the Booker-shortlisted The Master (2004), he delved into the mind of Henry James. But while that book focused on a four-year period, here Tóibín “seeks to grasp the entirety of Mann’s life and times”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He does so “over 18 date-stamped, place-tagged chapters”, which move from Lübeck in 1891 to Los Angeles in 1950, said Anthony Cummins in The Observer. As the novel progresses, two main themes emerge: Mann’s “hidden yearnings as a married father of six” (including his attraction towards his teenage son, Klaus), and the “problem of how to position himself amid the dawning horrors of Nazi Germany”. While individual scenes are subtle and moving, the enterprise as a whole is “somewhat confounding” – uncomfortably “stranded in a stylistic no man’s land between biography and fiction”.
I disagree, said John Self in The Times. Tóibín’s quiet, “unruffled” sentences are perfect for capturing Mann’s “struggling restraint”. No mere biography, this is a captivating “work of art” – and probably the finest novel Tóibín has written.
Viking 448pp £18.99; The Week Bookshop £14.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Zimbabwe’s driving crisisUnder the Radar Southern African nation is experiencing a ‘public health disaster’ with one of the highest road fatality rates in the world
-
The Mint’s 250th anniversary coins face a whitewashing controversyThe Explainer The designs omitted several notable moments for civil rights and women’s rights
-
‘If regulators nix the rail merger, supply chain inefficiency will persist’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The ultimate films of 2025 by genreThe Week Recommends From comedies to thrillers, documentaries to animations, 2025 featured some unforgettable film moments
-
Into the Woods: a ‘hypnotic’ productionThe Week Recommends Jordan Fein’s revival of the much-loved Stephen Sondheim musical is ‘sharp, propulsive and often very funny’
-
The best food books of 2025The Week Recommends From mouthwatering recipes to insightful essays, these colourful books will both inspire and entertain
-
Art that made the news in 2025The Explainer From a short-lived Banksy mural to an Egyptian statue dating back three millennia
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
Winter holidays in the snow and sunThe Week Recommends Escape the dark, cold days with the perfect getaway
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
-
Critics’ choice: The year’s top 10 moviesFeature ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘It Was Just an Accident’ stand out
