Icon of 20th-century literature, Noble prize-winner, celebrated genius – and about as unhappy as it’s possible to be. Thomas Mann loves and yet he cannot love, blocked as he is by the conventions of the age. What a source of inspiration for some of the greatest works of literature – and what a thoroughly miserable life. His early global success with »Buddenbrooks« open up door after door – all the way to the White House. No German voice denounces Hitler as vocally as his, no other writer garners as many accolades as he does. His wife Katia and his six children huddle around him like a cocoon. And yet, he is only ever one wrong-footed step away from tumbling into the abyss.