“Suddenly I saw in front of me the Statue of the Faun, the Statue that I love above all others. There was his calm, faintly smiling face; there was his forefinger gently pressed to his lips.”

Piranesi, his nickname as his own name is unknown to him, lives alone in a extraordinary world. A huge house of sorts connected to the sea and tide with numerous layers of vestibules. He lives of the fish he catches and seaweed he collects after the tide is gone. His only companion are the numerous statues and the Other. But then suspicion about the Other arises and Piranesi doubts his whole existence.

In 2021 this book received the Womens Prize of Fiction. The jury called it fresh; a book that lingers and something that is out of this world.
It did feel like a dream you can’t seem to wake up from. It was mysterious, confusing but at the same time Piranesi was overly sweet but also a little pretentious.
Due to chronic illness Clarke never thought it possible to write this book. Perhaps because of this I felt a connection with Piranesi. The book held elements that relate to having a chronic illness. Aspects like experiencing solitude, how confinement creates bonds with objects or birds or how harsh environments can be experienced as normality as long as you give it time. Although this book was strange and felt like you were dreaming, these elements made it multi-layered and because of that it will forever leave his mark.