CTH Book Club – The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

May 22, 2020

Join the Cruise through History Book Club by Zoom on June 15 and explore Sicily at the time Garibaldi unified Italy. The vehicle to transport readers in travel is the Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa novel The Leopard. This short, beautifully written, Italian modern classic is the story of the last prince of Sicily, written by his grandson, the real-life last prince of Sicily and published in 1961.

In the novel, the Prince travels with his family from Palermo to Donnafugata, their fictional country estate, to avoid the war of independence and landing of the Red Shirt army of Garibaldi. The old world of nobility is dissolving to the new elite of a merchant class. Young Tancredi tells his uncle the Prince, if you want everything to stay the same, there must be change!

When published, the novel was so popular in Italy, there were Donnafugata tours. Donnafugata is the fleeing woman, a real character in the history of Sicily and used to describe the Queen of Sicily, a friend of the Prince. So much of the history of Sicily, the life-changing events in the novel, which parallel real life, and the view of the Sicilian countryside are given to readers in The Leopard, to make it an engaging read for a book club.

Join in the Cruise Through History Book Club for that extra touch in a look at the history and beauty of Sicily with Dr. Sherry, then delve into the novel with fellow readers. If you prefer, watch the movie, then join the book club to spend time meeting fascinating travelers, who share your interests in exploring the world.

Taromina home of Donnafugata, looking from the theatre toward Etna

To join, go to the Book Club Facebook page, if you haven’t already done so. There will be details posted about the date, time and Zoom link that will be used for the meeting in this group. Then on June 15 (time to be posted shortly), you will just click yourself into the session and reach out to fellow travelers. Looking forward to seeing you there.