#RivetingReviews: Enrica Ferrara reviews THE TRIUMPH OF THE LIONS and FALL OF THE FLORIOS by Stefania Auci, translated by Howard Curtis and Katherine Gregor

Sicilian literature is famous worldwide, appreciated by readers and taught in universities too. One of the reasons for its success lies in the diverse cultural heritage of Sicily, separated from the mainland as a geographical entity, but firmly linked to the political and economic development of nations such as Italy, France, England, Spain – not to mention the early influence of rule by the Arabs, Byzantines and Normans.

Published in very quick succession, respectively in March and August 2024, the last two instalments of The Florios of Sicily by Stefania Auci, translated with precision and flair by Howard Curtis and Katherine Gregor, illustrate in great detail the multilayered history of an island that has produced an impressive array of authors: from Pirandello and Sciascia to Camilleri, Agnello Hornby and Auci (to name just few). The Triumph of the Lions and Fall of the Florios, originally published in Italian as a single volume, masterfully intertwine the history of a powerful family, the Florios, with that of a crumbling kingdom and rising Italian nation. 

Auci’s international success exploded in the aftermath of the so-called Ferrante Fever, perhaps due in the first instance to readers hoping to experience atmospheres and stories similar to those made popular by the Neapolitan Novels. In this respect, Auci’s storytelling certainly meets the audience’s expectations but takes us on a different, quietly intriguing, and more complex journey, exploring themes of ambition, identity, and the impermanence of power.

Covering nearly a century of history, from 1868 to 1950, the two novels faithfully replicate the successful structure of the first volume with every section embracing up to a decade, named after one of the resources or artefacts upon which the fortunes of the Florios were built: silk, spices, pearls, the olive tree, lace, sand,  and so on. This is to remind us that history is, first and foremost, socio-economic history. This is crucial, in my opinion, also to convey the strong political message embedded in these novels: that the divide between North and South of Italy came about during the process of unification because of a government that favoured the interests of northern investors to the detriment of southern powers, including the Florios. As Carlo Di Rudinì says to Ignazio Florio at the beginning of 1900: Those who made Italy forty years ago didn’t realize how different the south and the north were, and now we’re paying the consequences (Fall of the Florios, p. 108).

Auci’s greatest strength resides in her ability to animate the Florios as both historical figures and emotionally vibrant characters. She blends grand-scale events – economic booms and crashes, epidemics, political transitions – with vivid domestic scenes, creating a narrative that feels both epic and intimate. Both male and female characters are rounded and multidimensional: the two Ignazios, father and son, and their spouses Giovanna and Franca are the centrepiece of a narrative space in which ambition and greed are always on the verge of devouring everything; somehow, though, the balance is continuously disrupted and regained and the emotional tension within each relationship is a powerful engine that propels the story forward.

Auci’s meticulous historical research – which nourishes the text without turning it into a pedantic chronicle – is mirrored by the copious amount of study undertaken by the translators, as detailed in the novel’s afterword: when the vocabulary in Italian or Sicilian refers to “activities as varied as shipping, winemaking, and sulphur mining” for which there exists no English equivalent, the translators had to find linguistic solutions that preserved the tone and style of the original and, at the same time, made the story comprehensible. This was no small feat and achieved with admirable sensitivity. Furthermore, Auci’s Italian is richly textured, alternating regional registers, Sicilian dialect and standard Italian to reflect the diversity and shifting attitudes of characters, the mobility of social classes and the volatile emotions of women on the road to emancipation as the feudal power of the Florios is progressively eroded. Luckily, as Gregor sees it the frequent presence of dialect, or vernacular, in Italian literature is an added challenge – and treat in the work of the literary translator. Indeed, Curtis and Gregor perform a remarkable balancing act in an effort to preserve, whenever possible, the original wording in Sicilian in order to convey the plenitude of Auci’s text without slowing down the reader. It is a miraculous exercise of style, really, that is absolutely worth the journey.

Reviewed by Enrica Farrara

THE TRIUMPH OF THE LIONS and FALL OF THE FLORIOS

Written by Stefania Auci 

Translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis and Katherine Gregor

Published by HarperVia (2024)

December 2025 #RivetingReviews titles are available to buy from bookshop.org.

---

Enrica Ferrara lives in Dublin where she lectures at Trinity College. She has written widely about Italo Calvino, Elena Ferrante, Domenico Starnone and other leading Italian writers. Her debut novel in Italian, Mia madre aveva una Cinquecento gialla, was awarded the Rapallo prize for fiction in 2024.

Read Enrica Ferrara’s #‎RivetingReview of PERFECTION by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes

Read Enrica Ferrara’s #‎RivetingReview of ROMAN STORIES by Jhumpa Lahiri