By Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, translated by Archibald Colquhoun and read by Alex Jennings.

'The Leopard' draws us into world of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina. It is set in Sicily, during the Risorgimento: the unification of Italy.

An irresistible giant of a man whose hands are like paws and who makes the ground tremble when he rises to his feet, the Prince is clear-eyed, intelligent and languid, aptly represented by the leopard on his coat of arms. Don Fabrizio is about the business of preserving what remains of his family’s feudal power in a period of political turmoil. He realises their best hope lies in his charming and resourceful nephew, Tancredi, who knows that "everything must change so that everything can stay the same".

The Leopard is a gorgeous masterpiece of European political fiction: beguiling, beautiful and subtle, evoking a centuries-old way of life on the cusp of change.

Episode One: The Prince and his family are assembling for dinner.

Reader, Alex Jennings
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer, Mary Ward-Lowery Show less