Cover image from Goodreads.com

Piranesi lives in a house where the ocean laps at the bottom level and the sky fills the top. An endless labyrinth, the house is filled with statues, birds, and even fish in some water-filled rooms. Piranesi keeps a meticulous journal of the goings-on of the house, including his bi-weekly visits with The Other, a person who named Piranesi but refuses to offer a name of himself, and a mysterious person, named 16, lurking the halls. The Other tells Piranesi that talking to 16 will make him go mad, but curiosity gets the better of Piranesi and while investigating 16, Piranesi unravels the true reason he’s living in the house.

I was engrossed in the novel immediately. Piranesi’s personality shines through the pages; his kindness for the human skeletons in the house and his resourcefulness in finding food, maintaining a clean habitat, and mending fishing nets. The Other has given him gifts of shoes and whatnot, which immediately clued me in that The Other can leave but somehow Piranesi cannot, nor does he want to. He’s confused but is content with his confusion.

That is, until 16 turns out to be a gentle person who has been looking for him. She tells him of his family and friends and how he’s been missing for six years. Piranesi has no memory of any of this, but understands that staying in the house means being alone, and so he leaves with her.

The house is like a dimension that can be accessed if the person chooses to see it. The Other shows Piranesi how to get there but not how to return.

Engaging novel, overall. Definitely different from mass market stuff, definitely one that will stick with me.