Piranesi

A man, an endless house full of statues, and tides that surge through the halls.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke takes place in the House: an endless building with thousands of statues, staircases the sea climbs up and clouds drifting through the upper halls. Piranesi records everything in his notebooks and knows his way around like no one else. Twice a week he sees the Other, the only living person he knows; apart from that he brings food to the dead and is alone. When messages written in chalk appear on the floors, it becomes clear that someone new has entered the House.

A short, enchanting novel for readers who love literary fantasy in which atmosphere matters more than pace. Clarke writes so precisely that you can almost smell the salt water, and the mystery unfolds slowly, in diary form. Piranesi won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2021 and often wins over readers who loved Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell or Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the English paperback edition from Bloomsbury.