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WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE 2021
WINNER OF THE KITSCHIES’ 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, FINANCIAL TIMES, i PAPER, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, TIME MAGAZINE, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, BBC CULTURE, NETGALLEY AND THE CHURCH TIMES

The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, ‘one of our greatest living authors’ New York Magazine

Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has.

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. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.

Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims?

Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.

*****

‘What a world Susanna Clarke conjures into being … Piranesi is an exquisite puzzle-box’ DAVID MITCHELL
‘It subverts expectations throughout … Utterly otherworldly’ Guardian
‘Piranesi astonished me. It is a miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling’ MADELINE MILLER
‘Brilliantly singular’ Sunday Times
‘A gorgeous, spellbinding mystery … This book is a treasure, washed up upon a forgotten shore, waiting to be discovered’ ERIN MORGENSTERN
‘Head-spinning … Fully imagined and richly evoked’ Telegraph

Publisher Review

Piranesi astonished me. It is a miraculous and luminous feat of storytelling, at once a gripping mystery, an adventure through a brilliant new fantasy world, and a deep meditation on the human condition: feeling lost, and being found. I already want to be back in its haunting and beautiful halls! — MADELINE MILLER What a world Susanna Clarke conjures into being, what a tick-tock-tick-tock of reveals, what a pure protagonist, what a morally squalid supporting cast, what beauty, tension and restraint, and what a pitch-perfect ending. Piranesi is an exquisite puzzle-box far, far bigger on the inside than it is on the outside — DAVID MITCHELL Piranesi is a gorgeous, spellbinding mystery that gently unravels page by page. Precisely the sort of book that I love wordlessly handing to someone so they can have the pleasure of uncovering its secrets for themselves. This book is a treasure, washed up upon a forgotten shore, waiting to be discovered — ERIN MORGENSTERN Fifteen years on from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Clarke’s second novel finally sees the light * Sunday Times, What to watch out for next year 2020 * Susannah Clarke’s monumental masterwork Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was one of the finest works of speculative fiction of the twenty-first century and now, with Piranesi, she once more mines a darkly fantastical vision with a tale of a very singular house and its mysterious inhabitants. Saturated in gothic atmosphere and supernatural lore, Piranesi is simply unmissable * Waterstones.com * It’s 16 years since Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – now Clarke is back with a new otherworldly fantasy * Guardian, 2020 in books: a literary calendar * Sixteen long years have passed since the publication of the magnificent Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Susanna Clarke returns at last in September with Piranesi … The eerie tale of a man who lives in a flooded house * Daily Express * The long-awaited new book from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell * Observer * Susannah Clarke’s much-anticipated follow-up finally arrives * SFX Magazine * Sixteen years after Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, Susannah Clarke returns at last with the otherworldly tale of a man who lives in a flooded house * Daily Mirror * PRAISE FOR JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL: Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years. It’s funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical … Closing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell after 800 pages my only regret was that it wasn’t twice the length — NEIL GAIMAN This is, in both the precise and the colloquial sense, a fabulous book … a highly original and compelling work * SUNDAY TIMES * To be honest, my topic for a gathering, my page-turner, my mind-improver, my talking point and my train-reading are all one and the same book: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell…I am literally unable to put it down — JULIAN FELLOWES * TATLER * Full of spells, bad weather, statues that talk, haunted ballrooms and sinister gentlemen with thistledown hair … be enchanted! * ELLE * The language of the book is such a pleasure you’d probably want to go and read it anyway — LAUREN LAVERNE, BBC 6 MUSIC Best novel I’ve ever read — RICHARD MADELEY