Robert Harris has become one of my favourite authors over the last few years – his three Cicero novels and An Officer and a Spy are all excellent – so I had every intention of picking up his latest book, Conclave, as soon as it was published in 2016. The time never seemed quite right, though, which is why it wasn’t until last week that I finally settled down to read it.
Unlike the other Harris novels I’ve read, which were set in the past, Conclave is set in the modern day; the actual date is never stated, but there are enough clues to indicate that it’s in the very near future. As the title suggests, it is a fictional account of a papal conclave – the meeting at which cardinals gather to elect a new pope. Although there have been two conclaves in recent years (resulting in the election of Pope Francis in 2013 and Benedict XVI in 2005), I have to confess that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to either – I remember the television cameras waiting for the first glimpse of white smoke emerging from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, the crowds assembling in St Peter’s Square and the announcements of the papal name each new pope had chosen, but not much else. Rest assured, though, that you need have absolutely no familiarity with the conclave process or with the politics of the Catholic Church in order to enjoy this book!
Following the death of an unnamed pope, the reader is guided through the entire conclave by Jacopo Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, the man responsible for overseeing the election. With over one hundred cardinals from all over the world arriving at the Vatican to participate, there are plenty of contenders for the papal throne and voting takes place as a series of ballots which continue until a clear winner is found. At first, the sheer number of characters in the novel is overwhelming; we are introduced to cardinal after cardinal and I knew I would never be able to keep them all straight in my mind – but as it turned out, I didn’t really need to. It quickly emerges that there are only a few who have a real chance of becoming pope and Harris does a great job of helping us get to know each of the candidates and to form an opinion of whether they would or would not make a good Holy Father. Ambitious or humble, honest or unscrupulous, each has his own strengths and weaknesses and, as Harris is a writer of thrillers, you can also expect lots of secrets to be revealed, some of which have the potential to influence the outcome of the conclave.
Cardinal Lomeli is a wonderful character. In his position as Dean, he is usually the first to discover the secrets I’ve just mentioned, and must decide how to deal with them. Time after time, he is forced to examine his conscience: is he really just doing his duty or is he in danger of interfering too much? Does he simply believe that the truth must be told or could he be accused of trying to manipulate the result of the election? It’s all very exciting and as the voting pattern changed with each fresh ballot, I became more and more anxious to find out who was going to be the new pope! I knew who I wanted to be chosen and who I suspected would be chosen, but Harris kept me waiting until the very end of the book to find out for sure.
And, unfortunately, it was the ending which struck the only wrong note for me. I had been able to sense that some sort of twist was coming up, and when it did, I felt slightly cheated. It was something that had actually passed through my mind earlier in the novel, only to be dismissed because I had also thought of several other, more convincing ways in which the story could end. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific and explain what I mean, but it would definitely be a spoiler! Still, apart from the ending (which I’m sure some readers will like more than I did), I did thoroughly enjoy this book. It was tense, gripping and – with my complete lack of knowledge of what a conclave involves – absolutely fascinating!
I spotted an earlier Robert Harris novel, Archangel, at the library yesterday so that will be the next of his books that I’ll be reading. It’s not one that had sounded particularly appealing to me, but I’m more than happy to give it a try.
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I agree with everything you say about this one. I loved it – all the detail about how the Conclave worked, and all the politics which I found he kept nicely realistic. Lomeli is one of my favourite characters of all time I think. And then, wham, that ending. I had also wondered earlier but couldn’t quite believe he was going to do it to us… and then he did. Nonetheless, I still found it a great read overall, so I forgave him (which I suppose is quite in the spirit of the book now I think about it… 😉 )
Yes, Lomeli is a great character! I loved him too – actually, I loved everything about this book apart from that ending. I just found it too far-fetched after the rest of the story had felt so realistic.
I have read a couple novels that included the choosing of a new pope and it is quite a process. Almost as suspenseful and entertaining as the election of a new president in America. Recently I read The Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris L West (it was the #1 bestseller of 1963 in the US) and while some of it was too much religion for me, it began with the selection of a new pope. My review: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-shoes-of-fisherman.html. I think the one you read sounds better!
This is the first book I’ve read on this topic and I would never have thought it could be so exciting! I must have missed your review of The Shoes of the Fisherman, so thanks for the link – it sounds interesting.
Believe it or not, I think that ending was appropriate given the state of the modern world. I agree that the novel was fascinating and gives very good background on the election of a Pope. The other book I have read by him is Pompeii, which is top notch. I have seen movie adaptations of Enigma and The Ghost Writer, though I suspect the books are better. I have An officer and A Spy, and the first two books in the Cicero trilogy on my TBR. Maybe I will read them next year.
Yes, I suppose anything is possible in the modern world! I didn’t dislike the ending, exactly – it just wasn’t the one I had wanted or had hoped for. An Officer and a Spy and the Cicero books are all wonderful, so I hope you enjoy them! I haven’t read Pompeii yet, but it’s one that I’m particularly looking forward to.
Didn’t you see it coming? I don’t know exactly what I thought about it, but although I was slightly wrong about the twist, I wasn’t far off.
I did guess what the twist might be, but it wasn’t really the ending I wanted, so I’d been hoping I was wrong! I enjoyed the book, though, and am looking forward to reading the rest of Harris’s work.
It was certainly unlikely and a little too PC.
I’ve enjoyed other books by Harris and I’ve been meaning to get Conclave – but haven’t yet. It sounds very good. I’ll add to two more of his I haven’t read – The Ghost and An Officer and a Spy. He really is a versatile writer, covering a wide spectrum.
An Officer and a Spy is possibly my favourite so far – I hope you enjoy it! This one is great too, even though I wasn’t entirely convinced by the ending.
I agree with you about the ending. I picked up a clue to it earlier in the book but hoped I was wrong. Apart from that, I loved it, all the detail about the conclave & the machinations of the Vatican. Also recently read Imperium & looking forward to the other Cicero novels.
It seems there are a lot of us who weren’t very satisfied with the ending. It’s a shame because the rest of the book was so good! I loved Imperium and the other two Cicero novels are great as well – I hope you enjoy them.