In 1933 at the beginning of Hitler’s reign, Thomas Mann decided not to return to Munich, where he had lived for many years. He was warned by family and friends during a holiday visit to Arosa in Switzerland not to go back home, because they were afraid that he would be arrested. The Nazis had confiscated his possessions and only with great difficulty did he succeed to smuggle some of his furniture, his manuscripts and some money out of the Third Reich.

Britta Böhler's intriguing novel follows the Nobel laureate during three crucial days in 1936. The reader accompanies Thomas Mann when he visits the Neue Zürcher Zeitung to hand over his open letter to the newspaper’s famous editor-in-chief with a definite No to the Nazis. After leaving the building he is tortured by doubt.

His Berlin publisher Bermann-Fischer, a Jew, will be furious with this unwelcome spotlight on Thomas Mann’s publishing house Fischer. Will the Nazis ban and burn his books? Isn't he abandoning his faithful readers in the Third Reich, while choosing for the safety of exile in Switzerland? And what will happen if the Nazis confiscate his diaries with his most intimate homo-erotically tinged confessions?

Böhler succeeds in following one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century as a family man, a husband, a father, a writer, a man with moral doubts. And we, the readers, see a human soul like all of us trapped in a historical setting that forces him to choose between two equally impossible choices.

As Thomas Mann documented these three days only sparsely in his diaries, the novel fills this gap in the most convincing way – though always based on true historical facts. It shows a universal conflict that mirrors a human nightmare: to lose and confuse the moral implications of right and wrong.

‘The debut novel by professor advocacy Britta Böhler about three days in the life of Thomas Mann is no simple excursion but the start of authorship.’ – de Volkskrant

‘Her clear written debut novel cuts into an interesting theme and makes for a clever portrait of the wavering author Thomas Mann.’ – Trouw

‘An ambitious and accessible book about Thomas Mann, his worries and fears for his credibility.’ – Elsevier

'While using biographical material, debutant Britta Böhler has written a fascinating portrait of the unwieldy doubter Thomas Mann.' – Het Financieele Dagblad

‘A clever novel. Britta Böhler has painted a convincing image of a period of time and an expatriate who is unsure of how the situation will develop. She is a true novelist.’ – Literatuurplein.nl

‘Böhler fluently weaves biographical and historical events with the inner monologue from Thomas Mann and provides a clear view of his personality.’ – Dagblad van het Noorden ***

‘Böhler manages to lift Thomas Mann’s dilemma above the personal drama to a universal question: when confronted with evil, are you allowed to remain silent to save yourself or should you take a stand?’ – Tubantia

‘It is about accepting a new identity. Being a German outside of Germany. In doing this Böhler makes a wonderful connection between Mann and one of the characters that he has struggled with the most. But she takes it one step further. She teaches us that literature, music and even the political ruins in Mann’s Heimat lead to one of his most important works, Doctor Faustus. And there are more interesting parallels between Hitler, Mann and Wagner that are subtly revealed by Britta Böhler. The Decision is highly recommended for everyone who wants to have a plausible view on the train of thought of Thomas Mann as a writer, a father, husband and a tortured mind.’ – CuttingEdge.nl ***