'So vivid and true . . . Lampedusa is a beautiful novel, lyrical and wise. Reading it made me feel both melancholy and uplifted.' David Gilmour, Financial Times

'Brimming with wise and lyrical insights that make it a worthy heir to its mighty predecessor.' New York Times

In the Sicily of the 1950s, still haunted by memories of Fascism and the war, the last Prince of Lampedusa, Giuseppe Tomasi, struggles to complete his only novel, The Leopard.

Tomasi is a veteran of the previous war, while his wife Alessandra is living in exile after her native Latvia is absorbed into the Soviet Union. The childless couple are survivors of a vanishing world of European aristocracy, living in the present, yet nostalgic for the decadent past. Diagnosed with advanced emphysema and with a profound awareness of his doomed lineage, the prince begins working on a novel. When The Leopard is posthumously published, it is to much acclaim; it will come to be considered the greatest Italian novel of the century.

Achingly haunting, Lampedusa tells the story of a man's awakening to the possibilities of life as he nears its end.

'In subtle and intelligent prose, Price invites us into the mind of a man striving to make sense of memory and mortality.' Sunday Times

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GILLER PRIZE

The story of how one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century came to be.

About the Author

Steven Price's previous novel, By Gaslight, was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger, longlisted for the Giller Prize, and named a Book of the Year by NPR, CBC, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. He is the award-winning author of one other novel, Into that Darkness, and two collections of poetry.

He lives in Victoria, British Columbia, with his family.

Reviews
So vivid and true . . . Lampedusa is a beautiful novel, lyrical and wise. Reading it made me feel both melancholy and uplifted. -- David Gilmour, author of The Last Leopard, A Life of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa * Financial Times *
Lampedusa is one of the most powerful depictions of the creative act, and its roots in the wounds of the soul, that a reader is likely to encounter . . . Lampedusa is a marvel, a strange, wonderful, and utterly unforgettable book. * Toronto Star *
More striking than the biographical accuracy or even the intricate scaffolding of the story is the texture of images by Price, also a poet. Their beauty casts the same spell as his sensualist subject and the unhurried pleasure of experiencing them. * The Globe and Mail *
Price powerfully imagines Tomasi's final days as the ailing author struggles to complete and publish his treasured manuscript . . . A masterful storyteller, Price conjures Tomasi with language and images that evocatively fix him and his distant world indelibly in our minds. -- Jury Citation, Scotiabank Giller Prize
In subtle and intelligent prose, Price invites us into the mind of a man striving to make sense of memory and mortality. * Sunday Times *
Price's dignified prose is reminiscent of the venerable classic. Lampedusa is a captivating look at life and legacy. * Irish Times *
The prose is superbly controlled, richly textured, brimming with wise and lyrical insights that make it a worthy heir to its mighty predecessor. * New York Times *
[Price traces] his protagonist's path toward death and self-knowledge in an unsparing yet tender portrait that makes Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa as compelling as his great novel. * Washington Post *
An ode to writing itself . . . The author's poetic prose is infused with empathic warmth for the emotional travails of writing . . . An obviously, if quietly, ambitious novel. * Los Angeles Review of Books *



Book Information
ISBN 9781529019650
Author Steven Price
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 226g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 130mm * 25mm