A Deep Dive into Conclave by Robert Harris

Look, the Vatican is one of those places that seems straight out of a movie, right? Ancient walls, closed-door rituals, and an air of mystery that fuels crazy theories. So when I picked up Robert Harris's Conclave, I was already in the mood for something intense. And, truth be told, I wasn't fooled. This book doesn't stop at just the drama of electing a new Pope—it goes way beyond that. It's what happens when you put a bunch of cardinals in a room, close the door, and let their beliefs, ambitions, and secrets crash into each other. Harris, who has a gift for turning history into a gripping thriller, takes us right into that world behind the Vatican doors and shows us that even in the most sacred place there are very human messes.

Enjoy Robert Harris' gripping thriller "Conclave" here.

The Heart of the Story: Cardinal Lomeli and the Conclave

Here's Cardinal Lomeli, the poor guy who deals with all this papal election chaos. He's the dean of the College of Cardinals, which sounds very important, but really he's more like, "Why am I supposed to clean up this mess?" after the Pope suddenly dies. Lomeli is not your typical ambitious leader; he's more of the kind who'd rather pray than get involved in politics. And that's exactly why I like him. He has doubts—about the Church, about himself—and you can tell he's carrying the weight of the world as he tries to keep the conclave on track.

The conclave itself is like a high-octane reality show but with cassocks and lots of incense. Cardinals come from all over, each with their own thing. There's Cardinal Bellini, the Italian who wants to modernize the Church; Cardinal Tremblay, the Canadian with a dubious past; and Cardinal Adeyemi, the Nigerian with the most charisma you can imagine. When they start voting, it’s like watching a chess game: each move brings to light something new about who these guys really are. Harris doesn’t paint them as saints or villains—they’re people, flaws and all, trying to decide what’s best for the Church (and, well, maybe themselves, too).

A Masterclass in Suspense and Setting

One of Conclave’s biggest strengths is how it turns the arcane rituals of a papal election into something you can’t put down. Harris’s prose is sharp and vivid, conjuring up the Sistine Chapel’s towering frescoes, the sealed-off Vatican corridors, and the thick tension hanging over every vote. He writes:

“The conclave was a pressure cooker, and the heat was rising with every ballot”.

It’s a perfect image—claustrophobic, intense, and simmering with stakes that feel sky-high. The pacing is relentless; each chapter ends with a twist or a question that drags you forward, desperate to know what happens next.

The structure is tight, too, with the story unfolding over just a few days. Each section mirrors a day in the conclave, ramping up the urgency as the Cardinals tire and the pressure mounts. Harris uses the voting rounds—each ballot counted, scrutinized, burned—to build suspense, revealing more about the characters’ motives with every tally. Outside, the media buzzes, the world waiting for that puff of white smoke, adding another layer of strain to the locked-in cardinals.

Lomeli catches a glimpse of the crowds in St. Peter’s Square on a TV screen and muses:

“The world waits, but we must proceed at our own pace”.

It’s a quiet moment that captures the Church’s struggle to balance its ancient ways with a modern, impatient world.

Beyond the Thrills: Faith, Doubt, and Humanity

But Conclave isn’t just about who gets the papal crown. At its heart, it’s a story about faith—what it means to believe in God, in people, in something bigger than yourself. Lomeli’s journey is the thread that ties it all together. He’s wrestling with his own spiritual crisis while steering the conclave through scandal and intrigue. In one of the book’s most moving lines, he reflects.

“Faith is not a certainty, but a choice—a leap into the unknown”.

It’s a raw, honest take on belief, framing it as something fragile and personal, not a set of rigid rules.

Harris doesn’t pull punches when it comes to the Church’s flaws. Scandals, cover-ups, and moral gray areas are front and center laid out with a clarity that’s almost brutal. Take Cardinal Tremblay—his ambition leads him down a path that’s both shocking and tragically human. Yet, the novel never feels cynical. There’s a thread of hope woven through it, a sense that even flawed people and institutions can find redemption. It’s this balance—exposing the cracks without tearing it all down—that makes Conclave so compelling.

A Twist Worthy of the Vatican

The climax is a stunner, the kind of twist that hits you out of nowhere but makes perfect sense once you think back. I won’t spoil it—half the fun is getting there—but the reveal of the new Pope’s identity is a masterstroke. Harris plants the seeds early, letting the intrigue build until it all clicks into place. The final pages don’t tie everything up with a neat bow; instead, they leave you wondering about the fallout, not just for the characters but for the Church itself. It’s a rare ending that’s both satisfying and open-ended, sticking with you long after you close the book.

How It Stacks Up

Compared to Harris’s other hits like Fatherland or Pompeii, Conclave feels more intimate. Those books sprawl across time and place, while this one zeroes in on a few days in one location. That focus lets Harris dig deep into his characters, making their struggles hit harder. It’s got echoes of Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons—another Vatican thriller—but where Brown goes big with action and conspiracies, Harris keeps it cerebral, zeroing in on moral and spiritual stakes. It’s less about secret codes and more about the secrets we keep from ourselves.

If you’re new to papal elections, Conclave doubles as a crash course. Harris’s research shines through in the details—the smoke signals, the oaths, the ballot-burning—without ever feeling like a lecture. It’s all woven into the story so naturally you barely notice you’re learning something. And for history buffs, there are nods to real conclaves, like the marathon election of 1271 or the surprise pick of Pope Francis in 2013, that ground the fiction in reality.

Why It Matters Today

What really sets Conclave apart is how it speaks to now. Sure, it’s a fictional present, but the issues it tackles—the role of women in the Church, the West’s fading faith, and the rise of the Global South—are ripped from today’s headlines. Harris doesn’t preach or pick sides; he just asks the questions and lets you wrestle with them. It’s a story about an old institution facing a new world, and that tension feels urgent and real.

For me, reading Conclave was eye-opening. I’ve always been curious about the Vatican’s mix of holiness and politics, and Harris’s take made me see it in a new light. Lomeli’s doubts hit close to home—his fight to square his faith with the Church’s messiness echoed my own questions about belief in a complicated world. It didn’t change my mind about religion, but it made me think harder about what faith really means when the people preaching it are just as human as the rest of us.

The Verdict

Since it came out, Conclave has racked up praise, even snagging a spot on the 2017 British Book Awards shortlist. Critics love how Harris packs so much into such a tight space, and it’s easy to see why. It’s a standout in his lineup, proof he can tackle anything—Roman ruins, Nazi what-ifs, Vatican drama—and make it sing.

So, what’s the bottom line? Conclave is a knockout—a thriller that keeps you guessing, a character study that cuts deep, and a look at faith and power that sticks with you. Whether you’re into history, suspense, or just a damn good story, it’s worth your time. Harris pulls back the Vatican’s curtain, showing us the beauty, the flaws, and the humanity inside. And when you turn that last page, you’ll still be thinking about it—about Lomeli, the Church, and the shaky line between what’s holy and what’s human.

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