Fresh Prince

Let me put my cards on the table: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, is one of my all-time favourite books. Years ago, I read The Last Leopard, David Gilmour’s biography of Lampedusa, and the details of his uneventful life remain vivid in my memory. Now comes Steven Price’s new novel, Lampedusa, shortlisted for this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize. As I began reading it, I realized chances were strong that I was either Price’s ideal reader or very much the opposite.

Lampedusa’s life, which stretched from 1896 to 1957, was dauntingly, almost provokingly un-novelistic. Introverted and solitary, the last prince of Lampedusa spent most of his time reading or thinking about his reading. He never lived on his namesake island, south of Sicily, but instead remained where he was born, in Palermo. Other than serving in the Italian army in the First World War, his only job was a stint of a few years as the president of the Red Cross in Sicily...