The Magician by Colm Tóibín has been awarded the 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize
Irish author Colm Tóibín has been awarded the prestigious 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize for his latest novel, The Magician. Adding to his recent nomination for the 2022 ABIA International Book of the Year, winning the Rathbones Folio Prize is a remarkable achievement for this great writer. The Rathbones Folio Prize is also known as the ‘writer’s prize’ – the only major literary award for which all the books in contention are selected and judged by an academy of peers. It is also the only prize to consider all works of literature, regardless of form. Find out more about the Rathbones Folio Prize here.
About the book
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, which 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 with 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.