Clarke enjoys learning of the many interpretations of the novel from its readers and critics its fantastical elements have wrought many allegorical readings, many of which have surprised her. The narrator is ambiguous, the setting is vast and mysterious, its meanings multi-faceted. Piranesi is a curiously unique and tricky novel to define. That blockbuster book was all about escape. You can see a future stretching ahead of you, but is there anything in it? It was a big encouragement for me when I heard stories of people who who'd managed to achieve something in spite of it, so I hope what I have been able to do with this book goes some way to encourage others too.' Susanna Clarke's debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was a sweeping page turner about ancient magic set during the Napoleonic Wars.

'I wish I could go back in time and tell the person was who was ill: 'Don't worry, you will be able to write something.' Because it can be so isolating and bleak, and you're not sure that the future holds anything. Susanna Clarke Five Historical Fantasy Novels That Reimagine British History Tracing the Affinities Between Susanna Clarkes Piranesi and C.S Lewis The. 'It felt like such a personal book as it felt like such an achievement to have even attempted it,' she says. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated her award to anyone who suffers from a similar ailment and thinks they will never recover enough to fulfil a dream. Clarke suffers from chronic fatigue, a debilitating condition that has hampered her writing process for nearly two decades. The gap between her first and second novel was caused by illness. Her win means so much because Piranesi was a novel she never thought she would finish.

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