Piranesi

By Susanna Clarke

Book Overview

New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction
World Fantasy Awards Finalist

From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 163557563X
• ISBN13: 9781635575637
• Release Date: September 2020
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

One of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in a long time

It is best to go into reading this book without knowing anything about it - trust me. I fell in love with everything about this book and intend to read it many more times. Easily one of my new favorites.

give yourself some time for this

delightful and captivating. it was hard to put down so many 'oh geez what does this mean for them now?' moments. book quality great

Confused At First But...

This read was very strange and confusing for me at first; I went into this reading experience with a very, very brief summary of what this book was about. It may seem slow-paced in the beginning, but once it starts to pick up you won't be able to put it down. This book was so different and I loved the first-person narration that made the story feel more personal. The plot twist too, the beginning all the way to the ending was a well-thought-out story and the execution of the story was borderline perfection.

Unique, beautiful

No words. Absolutely beautiful.

Very good

I loved this book. It felt like one of those strange, fully built dreamworlds you don't want to wake up from.