The Sicily book list
Sicily is a never-ending muse for fact and fiction. Over the centuries, authors have scribed novels, plays, and poems that bring you into the la Trinacria with imagery and prose that keeps you wanting more. Sit at the table for the struggles of a typical Sicilian family, get a close up glimpse of 1960s Sicily and the at-the-time never discussed Mafia, follow the adventures of Inspector Montalbano around the fictional town of Vigata and get lost in the fables and fairy-tales of an incredible and diverse island.
by Tomasi di Lampedusa
Lampedusa’s brilliant novel chronicles the life of Sicilian nobility and the change in society in the midst of the Italian Risorgimento.
by Leonardo Sciascia
Sciascia’s first crime novel introduces the existence of the Mafia through the story of a murder in a small Sicilian town.
Six Characters in Search of an Author
by Luigi Pirandello
A genius absurdist metatheatrical play about the relationship between characters, authors, and theatre practitioners.
by Giovanni Verga
This tale of a poor Sicilian family reflect the struggle for self-improvement in the face of poverty and tragedy.
by Andrea Camilleri
A thriller in the Detective Montalbano series about the investigation of the death of a well-known engineer.
by Elio Vittorini
A successful, yet troubled, businessman returns to Sicily after a long time away and rediscovers those fundamental values of life.
by Luigi Capuana
A collection of twenty original Sicilian fairytales.
by Salvatore Quasimodo
Quasimodo’s moving poetry with themes ranging from love, to solitude and myth.
by Gesualdo Bufalino
Apropos to 2020, a love story stet in a plague-ridden Palermo sanitarium at the end of World War II.
by Vitalino Brancati
The story of Antonio, Catania’s most famous seducer, and his inability to consummate his marriage to the beautiful heiress, Barbara.
