Piranesi

Susanna Clarke took the literary world by storm with her immensely successful and decidedly lengthy debut Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and since then she has released a short but very entertaining book in The Ladies of Grace Adieu, which is now followed up with her next short but still delightful book, Piranesi.

We begin the story with our main character, Piranesi, who is a man who has always lived in the House. He spends his days traveling the many hundreds of halls and documenting what he finds in each one. There are halls where it is cold as well as halls where the tide rises and it becomes very wet and dangerous. But Piranesi knows only of the House and how to keep himself safe, how to get food, and where it is safe to rest. There are skeletal remains of others in the House, which Piranesi pays homage to, talks to, and leaves food. There is also The Other within the House, who Piranesi meets once a week to discuss plans to find the Great and Secret Knowledge.

Piranesi is a book that draws you in with its complexity and curiosity and then keeps you hooked until the very end.