Publishers Weekly
★ 06/29/2020
Clarke wraps a twisty mystery inside a metaphysical fantasy in her extraordinary new novel, her first since 2004’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The story unfolds as journal entries written by the eponymous narrator, who, along with an enigmatic master known as the Other (and 13 skeletons whom Piranesi regards as persons) inhabits the House, a vast, labyrinthine structure of statue-adorned halls and vestibules. So immense is the House that its many parts support their own internal climates, all of which Piranesi vividly describes (“I squeezed myself into the Woman’s Niche and waited until I heard the Tides roaring in the Lower Halls and felt the Walls vibrating with the force of what was about to happen”). Meanwhile, the Other is pursuing the “Great and Secret Knowledge” of the ancients. After the Other worriedly asks Piranesi if he’s seen in the house a person they refer to as 16, Piranesi’s curiosity is piqued, and all the more so after the Other instructs him to hide. In their discussions about 16, it becomes increasingly clear the Other is gaslighting Piranesi about his memory, their relationship, and the reality they share. With great subtlety, Clarke gradually elaborates an explanatory backstory to her tale’s events and reveals sinister occult machinations that build to a crescendo of genuine horror. This superbly told tale is sure to be recognized as one of the year’s most inventive novels. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
[Piranesi] flooded me, as the tides flood the halls, with a scouring grief, leaving gleaming gifts in its wake… rich, wondrous, full of aching joy and sweet sorrow.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A novel that feels like a surreal meditation on life in quarantine.” —The New Yorker
“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, New York Times Bestselling Author of CIRCE
“Unforgettable - surely one of the most original works of fiction this season. It drops you into a mind-bending fantasy world, a vast labyrinth with infinite rooms and seas that sweep into halls and up staircases with the tides. … It's a hypnotic tale that you can devour in a day (and probably will; it's that hard to put down).” —AARP
“Piranesi is a high-quality page-turner-even the most leisurely reader will probably finish it off in a day-but its chief pleasure is immersion in its strange and uncannily attractive setting. . . Establishing that sense of totality-and the feeling of peacefulness that accompanies it-is Ms. Clarke's standout feat.” —Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal
“Could Piranesi match [the hype]? I'm delighted to say it has, with Clarke's singular wit and imagination still intact in a far more compressed yet still captivating tale you'll want to delve into again right after you read its sublime last sentence.” —The Boston Globe
“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, NYT bestselling author of THE STARLESS SEA and THE NIGHT CIRCUS
“A short and beautiful novel that reads like a poem, not in its use of language (which is very accessible) but rather in its cumulative effect of expressing an emotion and state of being that is inexpressible. It's a strange and lovely read.” —Buzzfeed
“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, New York Times bestselling author of CLOUD ATLAS
“Destined to become a work of classic fantasy.” —Ron Charles, CBS Sunday Morning Book Report
“Piranesi Will Wreck You: The novel establishes Susanna Clarke as one of our greatest living writers.” —New York Magazine
“Infinitely clever… none of [Clarke's] enchantment has worn off - it's evolved. . . to abide in these pages is to find oneself happily detained in awe.” —The Washington Post
“Enthralling [and] transcendent… the sweetness, the innocence of Piranesi's love for this world is devastating to read. Clarke's writing is clear, sharp - she can cleave your heart in a few short words. . . The mystery of Piranesi unwinds at a tantalizing yet lightening-like pace - it's hard not to rush ahead, even when each sentence, each revelation makes you want to linger.” —NPR.org
“The long-awaited followup to Jonathan Strange is even more magically immersive. . . Here is a protagonist with no guile, no greed, no envy, no cruelty, and yet still intriguing.” —The Los Angeles Times
“Susanna Clarke's first novel in sixteen years is a wonder.” —Slate
“Susanna Clarke's astonishing Piranesi proves she's one of the greatest novelists writing today.” —Vox
“Piranesi hit my mind and soul like a thunderbolt. It is a work of deep power.” —EW.com
“Susanna Clarke has fashioned her own myth anew and enlarged the world again.” —The New Republic
“Almost impossible to put down… lavishly descriptive, charming, heartbreaking and imbued with a magic that will be familiar to Clarke's devoted readers, Piranesi will satisfy lovers of Jonathan Strange and win her many new fans.” —Bookpage, starred review
“Readers who accompany [Piranesi] as he learns to understand himself will see magic returning to our world. Weird and haunting and excellent.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Clarke wraps a twisty mystery inside a metaphysical fantasy in her extraordinary new novel . . . Sure to be recognized as one of the year's most inventive.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“As questions multiply and suspense mounts in this spellbinding, occult puzzle of a fable, one begins to wonder if perhaps the reverence, kindness, and gratitude practiced by Clarke's enchanting and resilient hero aren't all the wisdom one truly needs.” —Booklist, Starred Review
“Clarke creates an immersive world that readers can almost believe exists. This is a solid crossover pick for readers whose appreciation of magical fantasy leans toward V.E. Schwab or Erin Morgenstern.” —Library Journal, Starred Review
“Clarke's imagination is prodigious, her pacing is masterly and she knows how to employ dry humor in the service of majesty.” —Gregory Maguire, The New York Times
“Nobody writes about magic the way Clarke does . . . She writes about magic as if she's actually worked it.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine
Library Journal
★ 07/01/2020
Clarke's (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) deftly written new novel is the diary of the main character, Piranesi, a man living in a labyrinthine building with infinite rooms full of enormous statues. He meets one other person, a mysterious figure called the Other, who is obsessed with finding the Great & Secret Knowledge. The Other enlists Piranesi's help to map the building and locate the knowledge. But as Piranesi's love of the building grows, so, too, does his understanding of who he is and how he got there. The Other's true intentions are gradually revealed when another being, possibly from a distant world, contacts Piranesi. Once Piranesi knows the truth, he must make decisions that will overturn his reality. Piranesi is an empathetic character, gullible to a fault, but only because of his limited worldview. VERDICT Clarke creates an immersive world that readers can almost believe exists. This is a solid crossover pick for readers whose appreciation of magical fantasy leans toward V.E. Schwab or Erin Morgenstern.—Lucy Roehrig, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2020-06-17
The much-anticipated second novel from the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004).
The narrator of this novel answers to the name “Piranesi” even though he suspects that it's not his name. This name was chosen for him by the Other, the only living person Piranesi has encountered during his extensive explorations of the House. Readers who recognize Piranesi as the name of an Italian artist known for his etchings of Roman ruins and imaginary prisons might recognize this as a cruel joke that the Other enjoys at the expense of the novel’s protagonist. It is that, but the name is also a helpful clue for readers trying to situate themselves in the world Clarke has created. The character known as Piranesi lives within a Classical structure of endless, inescapable halls occasionally inundated by the sea. These halls are inhabited by statues that seem to be allegories—a woman carrying a beehive; a dog-fox teaching two squirrels and two satyrs; two children laughing, one of them carrying a flute—but the meaning of these images is opaque. Piranesi is happy to let the statues simply be. With her second novel, Clarke invokes tropes that have fueled a century of surrealist and fantasy fiction as well as movies, television series, and even video games. At the foundation of this story is an idea at least as old as Chaucer: Our world was once filled with magic, but the magic has drained away. Clarke imagines where all that magic goes when it leaves our world and what it would be like to be trapped in that place. Piranesi is a naif, and there’s much that readers understand before he does. But readers who accompany him as he learns to understand himself will see magic returning to our world.
Weird and haunting and excellent.
