Piranesi is a spectacular novel by Susanna Clarke, winner of the Women’s Prize 2021, set in parallel universe made up of hundreds of halls and vestibules lined with statues each on 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 labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house. The vestibules which triggers gradual memory loss and identity in newcomers. The upper level of the house is filled with clouds lower levels ocean which occasionally surge into the middle level following tidal patterns Piranesi meticulously tracks. He believes he has always in the house and that there are only fifteen people in the world, all but two of whom are long-dead skeletons. Piranesi records every day in his journal twice a week. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders the labyrinth of hall, the thousands of statutes, 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 begins 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 clalims? He asks for help with research into A Great Secret Knowledge.  But as Piranesi explores evidence emerges of another person, and the terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.  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. 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Bloomsbury Publishing £15.99, 272 pages.