The Magician, by Colm Tóibín

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly-researched novel that imagines the life of Thomas Mann, from his childhood in Lübeck, Germany through his moves to Munich, Switzerland, the U.S., and then back to Switzerland for his final years. Mann lived through the first world war, the Munich Revolution, and the rise of Nazism. He left Germany for good in 1933, to take up residence in Switzerland, but as war approached, he left Switzerland to take a post at Princeton University, later settling in southern California. Mann's wife and six children are prominent in this book; they are quite a set of characters. The children are writers, actors, editors, agitators, and much more.

While I have never read much of Mann beyond some assigned readings in college, I think Tóibín really brings the author to life with this book. Tóibín’s writing is really top-notch; he crafts sentences with care and draws out the plot at a pace that keeps the reader engaged and curious. I loved the way he evokes the late-nineteenth and twentieth century history and culture of Germany, including the family dynamics and pressures placed on them. As the story progresses through the 20^th century with Mann moving to the U.S., the book sheds light on all of the historical developments of the time and their impact on Mann, his wife, and their families

Hamnet: a novel of the plague, by Maggie O'Farrell

 

I loved this novel about Hamnet, Shakespeare's son who died at a young age. His cause of death is unknown, but imagined here as a result of the plague, which was prevalent in England at that time. Maggie O'Farrell's writing is superb; her descriptions of life during the 16th century and her characters' actions and emotions are wonderful. One of the interesting aspects of the book is that the author never mentions William Shakespeare by name; he's always described by his role in the family or community: the Latin tutor, the father, the husband. Hamnet's mother is called Agnes in this book; she was apparently referred to as Agnes in some older records, rather than Anne. This books makes the reader feel like they are right there, observing the action and scenery. You really feel how the death of Hamnet affected everyone in the family so deeply, something that's easy to overlook when reading a dispassionate history. This was a hard book to put down, and I will be looking for other books by Ms. O'Farrell.