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 * Perhaps the greatest novel of the century -- L.P. Hartley One of the great lonely books...not a historical novel, but a novel which happens to take place in history -- E.M. Forster The poetry of Lampedusa's novel flows into the Sicilian countryside...a work of great artistry -- Peter Ackroyd I was astounded by the power of the writing -- Corin Redgrave
