Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa

NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMATISATION FOR RADIO 4 – AVAILABLE ON BBC SOUNDS

This is the new, revised edition which includes recently discovered new material including letters and diary entries by the author and two additional sections of the novel.

The Leopard is a modern classic which tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution.

‘There is a great feeling of opulence, decay, love and death about it’ Rick Stein

In the spring of 1860, Fabrizio, the charismatic Prince of Salina, still rules over thousands of acres and hundreds of people, including his own numerous family, in mingled splendour and squalor. Then comes Garibaldi’s landing in Sicily and the Prince must decide whether to resist the forces of change or come to terms with them.

‘Every once in a while, like certain golden moments of happiness, infinitely memorable, one stumbles on a book or a writer, and the impact is like an indelible mark. Lampedusa’s The Leopard, his only novel, and a masterpiece, is such a work’ Independent

INCLUDES RECENTLY DISCOVERED NEW MATERIAL

‘Perhaps the greatest novel of the century’ L.P. Hartley

‘The poetry of Lampedusa’s novel flows into the Sicilian countryside…a work of great artistry’ Peter Ackroyd

As the head of the aristocratic family, Don Fabrizio is accustomed to knowing his own place in the world and expects his household to run accordingly. He is aware of the changes which are rapidly making men obsolete but he remains attached to the old ways. But Don Fabrizio will make few accommodations for the modern world.

About the Author: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was a Sicilian nobleman, Duke of Parma and Prince of Lampedusa. He was born in Palermo in 1896 and died in Rome in 1957. He lived the life of a literary dilettante, was familiar with the great literatures of the world, and was widely travelled. Much of Lampedusa’s other work is collected in The Siren and Other Writings.

06 Sep 2007
 

The Leopard: Discover the breath-taking historical classic by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa ISBN 9780099512158