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Piranesi

New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction
World Fantasy Awards Finalist


The instant New York Times bestselling novel from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic book set in a dreamlike alternative reality.

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one 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 the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

For readers of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.

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Published Sep 28, 2021

272 pages

Average rating: 8.25

1,836 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

jess.withbooks
Jun 05, 2025
10/10 stars
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
Mmarostegui
May 20, 2025
10/10 stars
Spoiler Alert
Anonymous
Jul 05, 2024
8/10 stars
Piranesi lives in the House, which seems infinitely large, made up of labyrinths and filled with statues that Piranesi has catalogued and memorized. It's also surrounded by water, and Piranesi has also learned the rhythm of the tides and when to avoid certain areas so as not to be swept away. As far as he knows, only two people exist in the world -- himself and the Other, the well-dressed gentleman who meets with him regularly. There are the bones of the dead that lie within the House, so Piranesi realizes there were more people at one point, but he can't seem to remember this. But he lovingly looks after the bones and holds them in high regard. He keeps a journal, and we slowly learn through his journal entries what is really going on...
Zoe E.
Nov 08, 2022
7/10 stars
Piranesi lives in a fantastical world - a labyrinthine building full of statues and inundated by recurring tides, inhabited only by him and one other person ("the other"). Once you get through the endless descriptions of rooms and artwork, the book proceeds quite quickly. The detective story that unfurls is heavily foreshadowed and the science fiction aspects of how Piranesi ended up where he is are somewhat hastily glossed over. However, I was drawn in to the book and to Piranesi's unique world view, and invested in his outcome.
Mhoovs21
May 12, 2025
6/10 stars
Review to come!

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