Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke has just been awarded the Women's Prize for fiction, 2021. This was my primary motivation for deciding to read it, having been somewhat put off by seeing that it had been described as a fantasy or science fiction novel. Indeed, when the copy I had reserved arrived from my local library it had a large 'science fiction' sticker on the spine. Wikipedia defines science fiction as a genre of speculative fiction that typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.
Piranesi definitely fits this definition as it takes place in a parallel universe but it certainly shows that sci fi writing can also be literary fiction.
The book follows Piranesi, who lives alone in an endless series of halls full of statues, visited twice a week by a mysterious figure he refers to as 'The Other', convinced that they are the only two living humans in the world. Piranesi spends his time mapping the halls, cataloguing the statues and writing in his journal, subsisting by fishing from the flooded halls below. Gradually Piranesi begins to notice signs of another human presence - wafts of perfume and written messages left behind - and the novel develops into an intriguing mystery. Who are these people? (Even Piranesi is not sure who he is: Piranesi. It is what he calls me. Which is strange because as far as I remember it is not my name.) What is their relationship to each other? What are The Halls?
This genre-defying book is so different to what I normally read but I loved it. It is a fascinating study in solitude, a page turning mystery and a truly immersive experience. The strange characters and setting which begin as something so alien to the reader quickly become somewhere for the reader to retreat to from the outside world thanks to Clarke's superbly evocative writing. Highly recommended.
