Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third-Person Omniscient
The narrator of The Leopard is most likely Giuseppe di Lampedusa himself. But instead of making this obvious and saying "I" like a first-person narrator, Giuseppe decides to play god and to write in a voice that knows everything that happens in the book and everything that is going to happen. This narrator is spooky in his knowledge of Italian history, and gives us little flash-forwards about what is going to happen to our beloved characters.
We read at one point about "[A] reputation quite unjustified in reality but which helped to destroy the prestige at Donnafugata and Querceta, without in any way halting the collapse of the family fortunes" (4.3). At another moment, the narrator tells us that much of the Salinas' property will eventually be destroyed by bombs in World War II. Hey, we even get word from this wise old owl of a narrator that Angelica and Tancredi's marriage ain't gonna be smooth sailing.