British author Susanna Clarke won legions of fans with her debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. With Piranesi, a Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2020, Clarke introduces a dreamlike new world and the charming, curious soul who lives in it and loves it. A bold blend of mystery-thriller and speculative fiction, this literary fantasia was inspired by the etchings of 18th-century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
In a vast, austere labyrinth of halls and stairs and filled with ocean tides, a lone occupant catalogues its nooks and crannies. He believes that "since the World began it is certain that there have existed fifteen people," but 13 are skeletons he watches over as a reverent caretaker. Currently he can confirm only that the world, which he calls the House, has two occupants: himself and an older man he calls the Other. Together they search for "a Great and Secret Knowledge" hidden somewhere in the House. The Other calls the narrator Piranesi. Their peculiar talks culminate in the astounding revelation that he and Piranesi are not the only living human beings in existence. As the nature of the House and his presence there slowly come to light, Piranesi must decide whom to trust if he wants to survive long enough to learn the whole truth.
Clarke's wry, masterful use of dramatic irony fuels both humor and suspense as the story builds to its climax with disciplined pacing. Though brief in length, it holds its secrets tightly until the right moments and leaves one with the sense of having glimpsed a boundless cosmos through a keyhole. --Jaclyn Fulwood