Conclave
Now an Oscar and BAFTA winning movie
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4.2 • 392 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
**PRE-ORDER AGRIPPA NOW: THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, COMING AUGUST 2026**
NOW A BAFTA AND OSCAR WINNING MOVIE
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE POWER OF GOD. THE AMBITION OF MEN.
'Unputdownable' GUARDIAN
'Gripping' SUNDAY TIMES
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?
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
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.
Riveting
Extremely well researched.
One of the best books ever
Absolutely loved this. I couldn’t put it down as soon as I started it. A truly fabulous read, full of twists and turns and anxious tension that kept me firmly on edge.