Inspired by Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, Castorp recounts Hans Castorp's student years in Gdansk, Poland. Pawel Huelle imagines what happened when Castorp encounters people, events, and ideas that anticipate the years to come, including an enigmatic woman who becomes his obsession.

Set at the dawn of the twentieth century, Castorp conveys with elegant restraint the accelerating pressure as Europe hurtles toward the First World War.