Book Review: Conclave by Robert Harris
A tightly plotted thriller which overcomes its banal premise.
Cornerstone, 2016
As he passed, Tedesco said sharply, 'My goodness, that was a novel interpretation of Ephesians, Dean – to portray St Paul as an Apostle of Doubt! I've never heard that one before!' He swung round, determined to have an argument. 'Did he not also write to the Corinthians, "For if the trumpet give forth an uncertain note, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"'
Lomeli pressed the button for the second floor. ‘Perhaps it would have been more palatable to you in Latin, Patriarch?’
The doors closed, cutting off Tedesco’s reply.
Conclave has been on my TBR list for years, and the imminent arrival of Edward Berger’s screen adaption starring Ralph Fiennes spurred me give it a go. There’s a lot to like about Conclave, given the premise could’ve gone in a number of directions. Told through the perspective of Jacopo Lomelli, the Dean of the College of Cardinals; we get a glimpse behind the curtain of what happens when a Pope dies, and a successor chosen via a tedious papal conclave.
And yet, the novel is anything but.
Lomelli is presented as an impeachable Atticus Finch-esque paragon of virtue, assailed by the shifting tides of cardinal factionalism fanned by several conspiracies designed to influence the outcome. Whilst Lomelli himself cannot act as a neutral bystander to events, through him Harris has provided a vehicle where the reader can be partial to all the information which another character would not have cause or authority to obtain. I had half expected the plot to veer into papal assassination conspiracy (which mercifully, it didn’t), and was pleasantly surprised by the appropriate stakes that kept me engrossed in the story.
Conclave will alienate many readers due to its male-focused hyper religious subject matter, but Harris injects a surprising cosmopolitan flavour to the proceedings and enough twists and turns to keep the page turning.
This review originally appeared in Dispatch Edition #3.
The Dispatch is a monthly roundup by British speculative fiction writer, Jordan Acosta. News, short reviews and more, published every first Thursday. You can subscribe at jordanacosta.co, and read previous editions, here.
