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вЂњIn five minutes, the Tide will reach the Sixth Vestibule and mount the Staircase. Since then the Other has been afraid of the Tides. (I never really know.) This happened in the Sixth Month of the Year I named the Constellations. As soon as he was able to walk, he took himself off without a word. I fetched him a blanket and hot soup made of seaweed and mussels. Eventually the Tides cast him up on the Pavement of the Third Western Hall (a distance of seven Halls from where he began).

Several times he was completely immersed, and he expected to drown. The Waters plucked him up and carried him away, sweeping him through Doors and battering him against Walls and Statues. Vast quantities of Water poured into the surrounding Halls, including the one where the Other was. A strong Tide from the Northern Halls rose in the Tenth Vestibule, followed moments later by an equally strong Tide from the Eastern Halls in the Twelfth Vestibule. Once the Other was in the Eighth Northern Hall. You have put this in as a control question.вЂќ Now if I were to say that I remembered Batter-Sea and then described the way there, you would know I was lying. Very cunningly you have chosen a word that sounds like a place. So you have asked me a question with a nonsense word in it-Batter-Sea. For example, if I were to describe the Path to the Ninety-Sixth Northern Hall, you would not know if my directions were accurate because you have never been there. But you have no way of judging the truth of my claim. I just said that I can describe the way to any Hall that I have previously visited. вЂњYou need to find out if I am telling the truth. вЂњWhat am I doing?вЂќ asked the Other, smiling. вЂњI see what you are doing!вЂќ I started to laugh.

Then: вЂњOh!вЂќ I exclaimed, light suddenly dawning. There is nothing in the World corresponding to that combination of sounds.вЂќ вЂњBatter-Sea is not a word,вЂќ I said at last. I could see that he was observing me closely and I was sure that this question was crucial to whatever research he was conducting, but as to how I was supposed to answer it, I had not the least idea. I waited for the Other to explain, but he said nothing. вЂњWhat about Batter-Sea?вЂќ asked the Other. I could describe the notable Statues you would see on the Walls, and, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, I could tell you their positions-which Wall they stood against, whether North, South, East or West-and how far along the Wall they stood. I could name every Hall you would need to travel through.

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Providing that I had visited it before, I could immediately tell you how to get there. вЂњWell,вЂќ I said, вЂњsuppose you were to name a Hall many days journey from here. вЂњGive me some examples of the things you remember.вЂќ He is often like this: he forgets to say Hello or Goodbye or to ask me how I am.

вЂњAs a question it lacks specificity,вЂќ I said. I sat on the Pavement, cross-legged, and waited for his questions. вЂњItвЂ™s natural to be curious.вЂќ He placed his shining device on the Empty Plinth and turned around. вЂњWhat are you trying to find out? Do you have a hypothesis about me?вЂќ ***** 'What a world Susanna Clarke conjures into being вЂ¦ Piranesi is an exquisite puzzle-box' DAVID MITCHELL 'It subverts expectations throughout вЂ¦ Utterly otherworldly' Guardian 'Piranesi astonished me.вЂњReally?вЂќ I said. The Beauty of the House is immeasurable its Kindness infinite. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims? Lost texts must be found secrets must be uncovered. Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls.

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021 WINNER OF THE KITSCHIES' 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, DAILY TELEGRAPH, FINANCIAL TIMES, i PAPER, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR, TIME MAGAZINE, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, BBC CULTURE, NETGALLEY AND THE CHURCH TIMES The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, 'one of our greatest living authors' New York Magazine Piranesi lives in the House.