Book Review Conclave
Writer Robert Harris chose a unusual setting for his latest thriller; the conclave at the Vatican to chose a new pope. Most people probably only have sketchy knowledge of Catholicism and even less on the procedure of choosing of a pope. The author went to considerable lengths to achieve authenticity, the acknowledgement list at the end showing he interviewed numerous church authorities including cardinals who had attended a conclave, also gaining permission to visit the usually off limit Sistine Chapel before commencing to write. So as well as being an entertaining read the book is very informative.
The story opens with the unexpected death of the pope and the scramble of Cardinals from all over the world to attend the conclave. The story follows Cardinal Lomeli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose task is to organise the conclave and ensure that all the rules are kept. The book covers the seventy two hours that the conclave took to chose the new pope.
The cardinals pray that God will lead them to choose the right successor however His message is seemingly not coming through very clearly. The one hundred and eighteen cardinals soon form natural groupings, along with conservative and more liberal groupings there are also geographical and ones with special interest. They are all holy men but some have ambition – and rivals. And so the mystery develops as the factions lobby – and scheme.
The London Times describes Harris as the ‘ Master of the intelligent thriller’ and this book certainly lives up to this title. Who would have thought that a conclave of elderly cardinals could possibly be the background for a thriller? However this book has just that. Not a thriller with cops and guns and blood all over the place, but rather one with twists, turns and surprises, but all the time keeping realistic. Never did I think ‘oh, that’s a bit of a stretch’.
This is the first Robert Harris book I have read , but I’ll certainly be looking for some of his others .
Mike Beckett
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