The Magician by Colm Tóibín

I have a deep admiration for Tóibín--in addition to the richly drawn works of absolute or at least obscure fiction (maybe his books are based on real people, but they are largely little known real people), this is his second work of fiction that is woven around the life of a real author, in this case the exiled, troubled, German Nobel prize winner Thomas Mann. I first read Mann when I was travelling with my then boyfriend now husband in Bolivia for a month, and we carried with us a suitcase of books in English, including several by Mann. He had me at Buddenbrooks and held on tight to me until I had read them all, or at least most of them. So consider the source, I love both the author and the subject, but this is well worth readingas well as thinking about. Underneath the actual story of Mann's life there are a lot of unanswered questions. Was Mann safe, sorry, or indifferent about his avoidance of politics, and on the eve of Hitler and WWII, what was going on in his mind? Did he regret anything? He ultimately had no choice, he was targeted by the Nazis and had to flee. He was not the child his parents backed as a writer, and what lessons does that have for parents? He had children, lots of them, to shield himself from those who might try to expose his homosexualty, but failed his offspring in that respect. There is a lot here, and it is well worth reading.