The Empusium

In September 1913, a young tuberculosis-stricken Pole checks into Wilhelm Opitz’s Gentlemen’s Health Resort in the Silesian mountains. Each evening, residents indulge in local, hallucinogenic liqueur and engage in lively debates on topics like monarchy vs. democracy, women’s equality, and war vs. peace. A hundred years after ‘The Magic Mountain’, Olga Tokarczuk explores Thomas Mann’s territory, masterfully weaving horror, comedy, and folklore into her narrative.