A Sunday Times Bestseller
A New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the Kitschies Red Tentacle Award
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.
About the Author
Susanna Clarke's debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was first published in more than 34 countries and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award. It won British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award in 2005. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, a collection of short stories, some set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was published by Bloomsbury in 2006.
Piranesi was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year Award, the RSL Encore Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Susanna Clarke lives in Derbyshire.
Industry Reviews
"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
