Review
Author: Robert Harris
Reviewed by: SHA
Issue: March 2017
We have enjoyed several of Robert Harris' books, most recently An Officer and a Spy, an excellent story about the infamous Dreyfus affair, which won the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and the American Library in Paris Book Award. He is a great storyteller and those talents are evident in Conclave, a story about the election of a new pope. A pope has died in 2018 and 118 cardinals from around the world gather at Vatican City to meet ("conclave") for the purpose of selecting a new pope. The cardinals are housed together at Casa Santa Marta and conduct their conclave at the Sistine Chapel in seclusion and with the proceedings sworn to secrecy. In Harris' fiction, the reader views the events through the eyes of an older Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals. It is Lomeli's job to officiate at the conclave and assure that it not only runs smoothly, but to press for a speedy conclusion to demonstrate Church unity lest it appear that the Church is in discord. Two strange events occur right at the outset: On his last day, the deceased pope had axed one of the cardinals, a strong candidate for the papacy, but had died before effecting his decision, and secondly, the old pope had appointed a new cardinal, unknown until he arrives for the conclave. As the conclave gets under way, more surprises occur and the politicking heats up as the balloting takes place. The first ballot indicates that there are four principal candidates for the papacy. Secrets from the past arise and the lineup shifts as subsequent ballots are taken. Harris successfully dramatizes the selection of the new pope, providing readers with an entertaining read and an education on the rituals that define the selection process, and highlighting the maneuvering and the dealing as the Eminences demonstrate that they are human just like the rest of us.