Susanna Clarke’s ‘Piranesi’ wins Women’s Prize for Fiction

By JILL LAWLESS

LONDON (AP) — British writer Susanna Clarke has won the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction for her mind-tweaking fantasy novel “Piranesi.” Clarke was awarded the 30,000-pound ($41,000) prize Wednesday for her story about a man living in a labyrinthine, statue-filled house that comprises his whole universe. Novelist Bernardine Evaristo, who chaired the Women’s Prize judging panel, said Clarke had “created a world beyond our wildest imagination that also tells us something profound about what it is to be human.” “Piranesi” is Clarke’s second novel, published 16 years after her first, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” became a global best-seller. Clarke has said that work on the follow-up was slowed by illness, as she struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome.