Skip to product information
1 of 1

Goldsboro Books

9780241004616

The Magician

The Magician

by Colm Toíbín

Publisher Viking

Genre: General Fiction

Publication date:

Available from:

  • Signed by the Author
  • UK First Edition
  • First Printing
  • Hardcover


Regular price £18.99
Regular price Sale price £18.99
Sale Sold out
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Out of stock

Rendering loop-subscriptions

Limited Edition Copies

View full details
  • Professionally Packed

    All of our books that have a dust wrapper are covered in clear protective, removable film and are packed professionally in bubble wrap and a box for shipping so that they reach you in perfect condition.

  • Book Condition & Notes

    All of our books that a have dust wrapper are covered in clear protective, removable film and are packed professionally in bubble wrap and a box for shipping so that they reach you in perfect condition.

About the book

From one of our greatest living writers comes a sweeping novel of unrequited love and exile, war and family

The Magician tells the story of Thomas Mann, whose life was filled with great acclaim and contradiction. He would find himself on the wrong side of history in the First World War, cheerleading the German army, but have a clear vision of the future in the second, anticipating the horrors of Nazism. He would have six children and keep his homosexuality hidden; he was a man forever connected to his family and yet bore witness to the ravages of suicide. He would write some of the greatest works of European literature, and win the Nobel Prize, but would never return to the country that inspired his creativity.
Through one life, Colm Toibin tells the breathtaking story of the twentieth century.
___________________________________

***Praise for Colm Tibn***

'A celebration of what novels can do' Observer

'Devastatingly human . . . savage, sordid and hauntingly believable' Guardian

'Tremendous, richly beautiful, wonderful . . . it does everything we ought to ask of a great novel' Tessa Hadley

'Subtle and enthralling' Sunday Times

Collapsible content

About the Author

Colm Toíbín

Colm Toíbín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet.


Tóibín is currently Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2017.


Tóibín's work explores several main lines: the depiction of Irish society, living abroad, the process of creativity, and the preservation of a personal identity, focusing especially on homosexual identities, but also on identity when confronted with loss. The "Wexford" novels, The Heather Blazing and The Blackwater Lightship, use Enniscorthy, the town of Tóibín's birth, as narrative material, together with the history of Ireland and the death of his father. An autobiographical account and reflection on this episode can be found in the non-fiction book, The Sign of the Cross. In 2009, he published Brooklyn, a tale of a woman emigrating to Brooklyn from Enniscorthy.

Collapsible content

GPSR EU Safety Information

1. Manufacturer Contact Information

Goldsboro Books Ltd - 23-27 Cecil Court, London, WC2N4EZ, enquiries@goldsborobooks.com, 02074979230

2. EU Authorised Representative Information

Easy Access System Europe - Mustamäe tee 50, 10621 Tallinn, Estonia, gpsr.requests@easproject.com

3. Safety Warnings

Not applicable

  • World Book Day: The Books That Made Us Readers

    World Book Day: The Books That Made Us Readers

    Rebecca McDonnell

    David Headley (Managing Director of Goldsboro Books) When I think about the book that first made me fall in love with reading, I always say it was Danny the Champion...

    Rebecca McDonnell

    World Book Day: The Books That Made Us Readers

    David Headley (Managing Director of Goldsboro Books) When I think about the book that first made me fall in love with reading, I always say it was Danny the Champion...

  • PREM1ER: May 2026 Revealed

    PREM1ER: May 2026 Revealed

    Rebecca McDonnell

    Introducing Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli - our 2026 May PREM1ER pick For PREM1ER, we are always searching for novels that feel both timeless yet entirely new ...

    Rebecca McDonnell

    PREM1ER: May 2026 Revealed

    Introducing Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli - our 2026 May PREM1ER pick For PREM1ER, we are always searching for novels that feel both timeless yet entirely new ...

  • When Authors Come to Goldsboro

    When Authors Come to Goldsboro

    Rebecca McDonnell

    There are moments in a bookshop that don’t feel important while they are happening. They look ordinary enough at the time: a table cleared, a stack of books, a pen...

    4 comments
    Rebecca McDonnell

    When Authors Come to Goldsboro

    There are moments in a bookshop that don’t feel important while they are happening. They look ordinary enough at the time: a table cleared, a stack of books, a pen...

    4 comments
  • Fresh Ink April 2026 Revealed

    Fresh Ink April 2026 Revealed

    Rebecca McDonnell

    JENNIE GODFREY ANNOUNCED AS GUEST CURATOR FOR GOLDSBORO BOOKS’ DEBUT SUBSCRIPTION FRESH INK We are delighted to announce that bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things, Jennie Godfrey, will guest...

    1 comment
    Rebecca McDonnell

    Fresh Ink April 2026 Revealed

    JENNIE GODFREY ANNOUNCED AS GUEST CURATOR FOR GOLDSBORO BOOKS’ DEBUT SUBSCRIPTION FRESH INK We are delighted to announce that bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things, Jennie Godfrey, will guest...

    1 comment
1 of 4