![]() ![]() It becomes clear that all is not quite as our narrator believes it to be and a mystery borne of a very real England unravels in the midst of this otherworld – the only home he thinks he has known. The Other is obsessed with uncovering the Great and Secret Knowledge that he believes is hidden within the House – forgotten knowledge that will grant him “strange new powers” – and Piranesi is his accomplice. ![]() He was an architectural fantasist whose association with our protagonist offers us an early glimmer of suspicion that Piranesi’s understanding of the World may be inconclusive at best. The original Piranesi, whom we assume inspired The Other’s choice of name, was an 18th-century Italian printmaker and artist who was renowned for his etchings of Rome and, in particular, his elaborate, fictitious, atmospheric depictions of prisons. The Other is introduced to us as a colleague – a man on whom Piranesi depends upon for companionship but also occasional creature comforts – and the person who named him Piranesi. Slowly we learn that Piranesi is not alone. Once again we enter a realm of fantasy but this time we have magical realism in a postmodern world. And yet, as if it has been infused with the otherworldly spirit of its contents, the novel’s scope and literary extravagance extends far beyond what its physical matter suggests could be possible. The long-awaited second novel, Piranesi, has arrived, albeit at a third of the size of its predecessor. With the exception of an anthology of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, that was set in the world of Jonathan Strange and published soon afterwards in 2005, there has been no white smoke rising from the chimney of Clarke’s home in Derbyshire. In the ensuing silence, Clarke’s legion of newly devoted fans had reason to believe it was a feat so extraordinary that the novelist could not, or would not, dare to repeat it. Her epic tale of 19th-century England, in which two magicians emerge to change history, was unlike anything published before – the 782-page fusion of magic, mythology and the fantastic with Austen-esque Regency manners proved irresistible. Fifteen years have passed since Susanna Clarke captivated the imaginations of four million readers worldwide with her bestselling debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. ![]()
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