Buddenbrooks

For four generations, the Buddenbrook family of Lübeck has been a pillar of the city's merchant elite—wealthy, respected, and proud. But as the 19th century marches on, the fortunes of the family begin to fray. Thomas Buddenbrook, the dutiful heir, struggles to maintain the firm's prestige while battling his own fragile health and a rivalrous commercial world. His sister Tony, spirited and headstrong, sacrifices her happiness in a disastrous marriage for the sake of family honor. And young Hanno, the last of the line, is a sensitive boy who dreams of music rather than ledgers, unable to bear the weight of a dying legacy. In this modern retelling, Thomas Mann's classic novel of decline and decay is rendered in fresh, vivid English—faithful to the original's depth and nuance, but freed from the stiffness of its era. The passions, pressures, and quiet tragedies of the Buddenbrook family feel as immediate as today. Part of Timeless Classics.