Summary of The Leopard
The historical novel “The Leopard” explores the changes in Sicilian society in the 1860s as a result of the unification of Italy and the rise of the bourgeois middle classes. The novel centres on Prince Fabrizio, head of the aristocratic Salina family, and his nephew Tancredi. Despite his uncle’s disapproval, Tancredi joins Garibaldi’s Redshirts and supports Sicily’s integration into a united Italy. He becomes engaged to the beautiful Angelica, the daughter of the ‘nouveau riche’ mayor of Donnafugata, where the Salina family owns a palace. As Tancredi puts it: “everything must change so that everything can stay the same”.
Reasons to read The Leopard
“The Leopard” is widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian novels of all time. Although Lampedusa struggled to find a publisher during his lifetime, “The Leopard” became a bestseller after his death and was awarded the prestigious Premio Strega in 1959. It is a traditional historical novel, in its structure, its themes of social change from the perspective of the aristocracy, and its setting in luxurious Sicilian palaces. The novel was adapted into a film in 1963 by Luchino Visconti, staring Claudia Cardinale.
Setting: Sicily (Italy)
Book set in Sicily, Italy: Palermo (San Lorenzo quarter) and Santa Margherita di Belice (called Donnafugata in the novel; particularly the Palazzo Filangeri-Cutò)
Original title: Il Gattopardo
Year of publication: 1958
Nr of pages: 336
