Synopsis: Somewhere there is a house made up of infinite rooms. A house that contains an ocean whose tides ebb and flow from story to story. In this house of infinities lives Piranesi, a lone resident who maps the many rooms and resident statues. Through mysterious circumstances Piranesi learns he may not be the only one in the home after all.

My Thoughts: Susanna Clarke’s writing is epitomized by detail, and Piranesi is no different. Page after page is dedicated to the description of architecture and statues. Room A leads to Room B in the northwest corner, and room C in the southeast corner. Room A contains the statues of the griffin, a monk carrying a chessboard, and a king crumpled at the base of this throne. Beginning this book was a chore. There was nothing to orient the reader. We are simply dropped in the middle of an endless world and have to travel along with Piranesi as our guide.

I struggled to start this book. I would read a few pages then put it down, confused and disappointed. There wasn’t much going on except a man wandering around and a lot of strange capitalization in the text. It wasn’t until I hit the 20% mark that the book picked up. From there I fell in love with the story and finished the book in two sittings. Upon finishing the book the slow start made sense and I actually came to appreciate what the author did.

I’m a sucker for a book with only a few characters, and Piranesi nailed this. There is the main character, Piranesi, a man called the Other, the Prophet, and 16. There are some other names but they never make a direct appearance in the story. This lean cast allowed the triumphs and tribulations of each character to feel more impactful, and there is no confusion of characters.

This book took me on a journey, both in the story and emotionally. I can’t remember the last book I read that had such a horrible first impression that turned out to be a great read.