Conclave
Soon to be a major film
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4.2 • 216 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
***PRE-ORDER THE SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION OF PRECIPICE, THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, NOW. PUBLISHING AUGUST 2024, AVAILABLE ONLY WHILE STOCK LASTS AND EXCLUSIVE TO THE FIRST PRINT RUN***
THE POWER OF GOD. THE AMBITION OF MEN.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, 118 cardinals are meeting in conclave to cast their votes in the world's most secretive election.
They are holy men. But they are ambitious. And they have rivals. Over the next 72 hours, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth. Who will it be?
'Unputdownable' Guardian
'Gripping' Sunday Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
If you enjoyed Paolo Sorrentino’s decadent and deliciously dastardly TV show, The Young Pope, step right this way. In this utterly gripping thriller, Robert Harris dives into the planet’s most secretive recruitment process: the Conclave to select a new Pope. His cast of viciously ambitious cardinals make for an uproarious rogue’s gallery of characters, while our narrator (Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli) is just the grounded figure the book needs to make order from chaos.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Thriller Award winner Harris (Dictator) successfully dramatizes the selection of a new pope. In the near future, the pontiff dies suddenly of a heart attack, and the Vatican leadership works fast to ensure an orderly transition. The process is conveyed from the perspective of Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli, the dean of the College of Cardinals, a rational and sympathetic figure who a month earlier sought permission to retire to a religious order. As the cardinals gather from around the world to vote, factions quickly develop around the leading contenders, including Joshua Adeyemi of Nigeria, who's seeking to become the first black pope, and Lomeli's successor as the Vatican's secretary of state, Aldo Bellini. Bellini gives Lomeli a glimpse at the hidden turmoil at the Vatican when he reveals that on the day of the Holy Father's death, the dying pope confided to Bellini that he had lost faith in the church. As the maneuvering for command continues, Lomeli must try to steer a path toward consensus. This is another impressive outing from an extremely versatile author.
Customer Reviews
Remarkable
This book is truly remarkable. The subject might appear to many as not interesting enough. The result is a story as beautifully written as it is intriguing, as intense and gripping as any Robert Harris novel. Highly recommended.
A wonderful, detailed, informative, inspiring story
No- one knows much about a papal election. I think this book represents it very properly. There are a few avoidable mistakes, such as the plate on the urn of votes being a paten, rather than a chalice, which is a cup for the wine of the sacrament of Holy Communion, and a few Latin errors, but the general accuracy is very fine another conspicuous error is that a priest does not “celebrate” Vespers, which is the penultimate of the Offices of the Day” which every priest has been obliged to read, say or sing. It is not sacramental, and so there is no reason for it to confer a state of grace. I’ve read this book 3 times. This reading will not be the last
Well written and super ending
One expects good writing and language, and Conclave delivers. The detail is interesting and the twists and turns of the plot fascinating. The ending is a thought provoking surprise.