In September 1913, a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at the Wilhelm Opitz Lodge for Men, a spa in the Silesian mountains. Every evening, the lodgers gather to drink the local hallucinogenic liqueur and discuss the great issues of the era: monarchy or democracy? Are there devils? Are women born inferior? War or peace? Meanwhile, disturbing things happen in the lodge and the surrounding hills. Someone—or something—appears to be watching, trying to infiltrate this secluded world. The newcomer does not realize, as he attempts to uncover truths within himself and the mystery of the malevolent forces around him, that they have already chosen their next victim. A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Olga Tokarczuk returns to the territory of Thomas Mann and claims it, combining horror, comedy, tradition, and feminist parable with masterful storytelling.