What makes up a person? Is it just their accumulated memories and experiences? And when a person spends too much time in solitude and lives in a fantasy world, how can the real world ever compare, and are we better off in that imagined world sometimes? ‘Piranesi’ caused me to ask a lot questions too. Piranesi has no memories from his earlier life and he’s happy in this world, until a few strange occurrences cause him to start asking questions. But the book is mostly about him being alone, and how he survives in this labyrinth, which he has imbued with his own meaning. The only person with him in this strange place is the ‘other’ who he meets once a week, and a couple of skeletons who he tends to. He survives on fish and seaweed, and seems to be curious rather than full of despair. The story is told via his journal entries and their odd dating system, which makes the time and world hard to place. It consists of an unknown amount of vestibules and halls on three levels with thousands of marble statues lined along the walls. Piranesi lives in a watery underworld, subject to tidal flooding. “The Beauty of the House is immeasurable its Kindness infinite.” Piranesi Fantasy wouldn't be my normal genre but when I just gave myself up to the story and lost myself in the world created I couldn't put this down. I was quite happy to do this as it was just so intriguing and I was eager to know what happened next. To begin with, I really didn't know what was happening and found it almost disorientating, and I had to read the first part twice with a bit of back and forth. ‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke is such an unusual book.

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