Susanna Clarke
Books by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor (narrator)
🏆 Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021
“Everyone loves Piranesi… It’s the story of a man who has no memories and no sense of time. He’s been named Piranesi by the only other occupant of the enormous palatial space that he finds himself in, which doesn’t really have the constraints of a physical place…This novel does that masterful, difficult thing of hooking you straight away, at first with nothing but pure intrigue, and then with this momentum of yearning and wonder and anguish all the way through. It’s a small, elegant mystery. There’s something extremely punk rock about releasing a tiny book. Piranesi is not technically a novella, but you could read it in a day or two. I just love that.” Read more...
Arianna Reiche, Novelist
“I chose this book because it really blurs the line between fiction and history. Just the use of footnotes and references to texts that likely don’t exist yet unless Susanna Clarke writes them in!” Read more...
Tendai Huchu, Novelist
Interviews where books by Susanna Clarke were recommended
The Best Historical Fiction, recommended by Tendai Huchu
What is historical fiction? Does it have to be historically accurate? Zimbabwean novelist Tendai Huchu talks us through five important examples of historical novels, including three set in Africa.
The best books on Fantasy, recommended by Lev Grossman
We’re living through a golden age for fantasy fiction, says the author of The Magicians. Here, he tells us what makes for a good fantasy novel, and who’s staking out the future not just of fantasy but of fiction as a whole.
The Best Science Fantasy, recommended by Vajra Chandrasekera
We use ‘science fantasy’ when a book seems to be both science fiction and fantasy. What distinguishes the two, and what does it mean to combine them? These books are an opportunity to explore our ways of knowing, reflect changing cultures, and find humour in the unexpected, says award-winning fantasy and sci fi author Vajra Chandrasekera.
The Best Ergodic Fiction, recommended by Arianna Reiche
The best fiction doesn’t have to be straightforward, and some novels contain clever devices to make the reader complicit in the story itself. Arianna Reiche, lecturer in metafiction at City, University of London, recommends five gamified novels that subvert our ideas of how fiction works.
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1
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor (narrator) -
2
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X and assisted by Alex Haley, Laurence Fishburne (narrator) -
3
The City We Became: A Novel (The Great Cities Trilogy)
by N.K. Jemisin & Robin Miles (narrator) -
4
Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid & Nicole Lewis (narrator) -
5
More Myself: A Journey
by Alicia Keys
The Best Audiobooks: the 2021 Audie Awards, recommended by Michele Cobb
The Best Audiobooks: the 2021 Audie Awards, recommended by Michele Cobb
There are so many fantastic audiobooks being produced at the moment, across so many genres, that it’s hard to know where to start listening. Fortunately, every year, the judges of the Audie Awards pick out some of the very best. Here, Michele Cobb, Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association, talks us through some of the 2021 winners, including the ‘audiobook of the year.’
Favourite Novels of 2020, recommended by Cal Flyn
Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn selects her favourite novels from among those published in 2020: the year of the lockdown, a time when many of us found escapism and solace between the covers of a book. Her own book, Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape, a work of literary nonfiction, is out in January.
