The Perfect Circle ⏀

By Claudia Petrucci.

The Perfect Circle is a quietly unsettling and beautifully constructed book that slips between two timelines and two women whose lives begin to echo one another across decades.

At the centre of it all is the round house on Via Saterna, an architectural illusion hiding a tragic past. In the early twentieth century, young Lidia dies within its walls, her life cut short by a manipulative, clandestine love affair. In the present, Irene, a real estate agent returning to Milan, is tasked with selling this impossible property while navigating her own strained family ties and a city transformed by climate catastrophe.

What makes this book so captivating is the structure. The present moves forwards while the past unspools backwards, each chapter peeling back another layer of the house and the people who lived within it.

The two narratives tighten slowly and elegantly until they finally meet in a conclusion that is both shocking and entirely earned.

Petrucci handles theme with a light but confident touch. Time, repetition, desire and the weight of unfinished stories all circle one another in the same way the house itself spirals around its open centre.

The traces of Lidia’s life linger in every room. Irene’s growing fascination with the mansion only deepens the sense that the past has never left.

The character arcs feel grounded and compelling, weaving together into a believable web of relationships that propels the story forward. The setting, too, is vivid without being over explained.

Hints of environmental collapse and shifting social tension give the book an unsettling atmosphere that mirrors the emotional undercurrent of the house.

Intricate, haunting and impossible to put down, The Perfect Circle is a layered and striking story that rewards careful reading. A clever and immersive book that lingers long after the final page.

Thank you to Christine at World Edition for sending a copy in time for publication day. The book is out now and available to purchase.

Buy the book here.

Buy the Kindle book here.