Thomas Mann's Lost Diaries - by Hope Cotter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

On the eve of a defining American speech against fascism, exiled Nobel laureate Thomas Mann races to recover his missing diaries--before they expose truths that could destroy his reputation, fracture his family, and derail his fight for democracy.

Thomas Mann's Lost Diaries is a sweeping historical novel set against the charged backdrop of 1938, as Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann and his family confront exile, fame, fascism, and the private cost of public courage.

At the heart of this story is a family brilliant enough to influence history but fractured by secrecy, longing, ambition, and betrayal. Erika Mann, Thomas's fiercely gifted daughter, emerges as both witness and force--fighting fascism on stage while wrestling with the emotional hunger of being loved by a father who belongs first to the world. Around her, the Mann family's circle is a growing web of artists, exiles, patrons, and political fugitives, each carrying their own compromises and desires as the old world burns. The novel follows Mann as he prepares to deliver his landmark Madison Square Garden speech, "The Coming Victory of Democracy," while the lives of the members of this circle--children, lovers, patrons, and protectors--collide around him.

Rich with literary glamour, political urgency, and intimate emotional tension, Thomas Mann's Lost Diaries explores what it means to preserve truth when history is being rewritten in real time.

About the Author

Hope Cotter is a writer and poet, and a graduate of New York University. She won a place in Reader's Digest's top 20 Personal Essays in 2024, and her work has been in included in Words Literary Magazine, Moonstone Arts Center, Red Door Lit, and Wingless Dreamer. She loves the smell of old books and new ideas, is an avid supporter of Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the New York Academy of Art, and is currently working on a memoir. Hope lives in Hopewell, NJ, with her three sons and Bengal cat, Cheddar. Find her on Instagram: @hope.cotter.