They only meet occasionally and The Other is on a somewhat fruitless search for hidden knowledge that Piranesi contributes to without any real investment. The Beauty of the House is immeasurable its Kindness infinite.Ĭlarke creates a novel in which – for the main – we only have two characters: Piranesi (which is not his name but is the name he has been given) has such a childlike naive charm to him in contrast The Other is dapper, knowing and condescending. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous. Lost texts must be found secrets must be uncovered. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims? Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls.

It is unapologetically challenging and fantastical, and rightly deserves its place in the Women’s Prize shortlist and must be in the running for taking the prize on 8th September!

This was just sublime! It took a few chapters to get into and was not what I had expected at all from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell but once you were in, this was a novel that did not let go and which haunts the reader long after reading it!

Susanna clarke piranesi review