-
Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:The best-selling author of Enigma and Fatherland turns to today's Vatican in a ripped-from-the-headlines novel, and gives us his most ambitious, page-turning thriller yet - where the power of God is nearly equaled by the ambition of men.
The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth.
The attention to detail and fulsome description of the key locations of the novel – primarily the Sistine Chapel and the Casa Santa Marta where the Cardinals all sleep and eat for the duration of the conclave – bring this story to vivid life. Even if this conclave is fictional, the novel has wonderful authenticity. Places and characters are believable and convincing, and although the ending may stretch credulity a little, Harris succeeds in the delicate balance of placing absorbing fiction within a real setting...continued
Full Review
(441 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Kate Braithwaite).
In Conclave, Robert Harris creates an imaginary world of Cardinals meeting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope. The Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope or Holy Father, is the leader of the Catholic Church, a religion with over one billion members worldwide.
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes 266 popes in the Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook), starting with the apostle Peter who, according to the Roman Catholic Church, was directly chosen by Jesus - "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). Over two thousand years, the process of electing a new Pope has been refined and developed, most recently changing in 1970 when Pope Paul VI limited the age of the Cardinals involved in...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked Conclave, try these:
by Alice McDermott
Published 2018
Rendered with remarkable lucidity and intelligence, Alice McDermott's The Ninth Hour is a crowning achievement of one of the finest American writers at work today
by David Mitchell
Published 2015
An elegant conjurer of interconnected tales, a genre-bending daredevil, and master prose stylist, David Mitchell's new novel, The Bone Clocks, crackles with invention and wit.
.gif)
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
