Piranesi is a glorious, wondrous, marvellous fabulous book (in all the older as well as the more modern meanings). It had the same effect on me that Radio 3's Words and Music sometimes does: it hypnotised me and made me feel that I was sliding into that other World, the House that Piranesi inhabits. It cast a spell on me which I will remember for a long time. It's also very funny: in the exchanges between Piranesi and the Other (a mean-spirited person, bent on acquiring the Secret Knowledge for himself, whereas Piranesi is humbly kind and carefully thoughtful about the World he inhabits, even though he is also heartbreakingly lonely) the Other's crass worldly behaviour is beautifully juxtaposed with Piranesi's gentle otherworldly humanity. Brilliant. I hope it wins the Women's Prize for Fiction this year (2021).