The Leopard
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
1958
Around 330 pages
I have fond memories of this book as I read it while I was living in London. And yes, I know that it was silly to read an Italian novel in England. What can I say, I was young.
The majority of this novel is set during the period when Giuseppe Garibaldi led an army to invade and conquer Sicily for the Italian empire. The aristocratic Salina family is led by Don Fabrizio, who takes his role seriously by constantly cheating on his wife. He is fond of his nephew Tancredi, but is disturbed to discover that Tancredi has joined the Redshirts (Garibaldi's army). Fabrizio's daughter Concetta is in love with Tancredi, but he loves Angelica, the daughter of the shady mayor whose power rivals the Salinas.
This is a very rough overview. For a historical novel, it is action-packed, which we know by now is not always the case for this genre. I thought this was an easy read, despite not knowing much about setting. Unlike some of the other novels on the List (ahem), our author doesn't assume his audience is a local well-versed in the who's who of 1860s. He provides enough context that I never felt lost, and the characters did an excellent job grounding the story with their very human emotions.
I enjoy stories that focus on an entire family during a period of political turmoil. This felt like the Italian War and Peace. Highly recommended.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Won Italy's highest award for fiction, the Strega Prize.
The novel enraged the Communist Party, which is always fun.
UP NEXT: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
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