The first time I read The Leopard, the novel about the fall of a Sicilian noble family in the 19th century, I was dazzled. I was in Italy — on the Ligurian coast, not Sicily — one summer during the pandemic, and we had splurged on a historical villa overlooking the sea. For the first and probably only time in my life, I lived in a house with frescoed ceilings, stained glass panels and terraced gardens bursting with rosemary and bougainvillea. Lounging on an antique sofa, I read The Leopard (pub. 1958) feeling like I was right there with the Salina family. 

So how did the TV series hold up?

First, the book: I couldn’t stand the prince Don Fabrizio! So full of himself, so hypocritical, so slimy. And yet I loved him. The book was mostly from his point of view, and the author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote it in such a humorous, self-deprecating way, it was a joy to read. Don Fabrizio was supposed to embody the social class of his day, and all of Sicily during the Risorgimento, Italy’s struggle to become one nation. The political intrigue between him and the scheming mayor Don Calogero was really entertaining and interesting. But it was the overall humor, shot with melancholy, that made The Leopard one of my favorite books. 

That was what I missed in the TV series. If I had watched it without reading the book, I would have thought it a mildly interesting historical drama with a wonderful setting. The show concentrated so much on the prince’s daughter Concetta, I got bored. I wasn’t interested in her pining for Tancredi. I had expected a different story, one closer to the book, and I think the series was a missed opportunity. It could have leaned into the bigger story, the fate of the whole Salina family, its slide into decay during one of the most turbulent political eras in Italy’s modern history. The show reached for the epic feel of the novel and ended up wallowing in the smaller and less interesting story. 

The series was absolutely beautiful to watch. I’ve been to Sicily a couple times and was immediately transported back. There’s nothing quite like Sicilian sunshine, the hills and mountains, the coastline, the streets of ancient towns and cities. It’s worth watching the show just for that. But I was disappointed in the story. 

I figure The Leopard with its epic scale and intimate humor is a hard book to film just right. The 1963 Visconti film starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon might come the closest so far, but I do think a series format is better for the story. I’d love to see one that leans more into the special humor of the novel.