A review by gilroi
Conclave by Robert Harris

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I  read Harris' Cicero trilogy a few years ago, and those books remain some of my favorite novels set in the Roman Empire, even as I find them a little disappointing. Harris just doesn't care about Rome the way I care about it, and the political machinations exist only to further an allusion to British politics just before the Second World War. So it was to my great surprise how enjoyable I found this book, which engages with a Rome I care far less about-- the Rome of the modern day. I'm not trying to damn with faint praise when I say it's a relief to read Harris putting his immense talent toward a subject he cares far more about than Ancient Rome.

This book is probably as close to 'cozy' as I get-- everyone is presumed to be an essentially good person who means well, and disagreements are resolved with sometimes tense but never violent discussion and debate. Nothing graphically violent, sexual or horrifying happens. The end is a paean to religious tolerance-- and tolerance in general. I'm of two minds on the ending; while I feel it was written with the best intentions in mind, it does kind of turn a minority into a rug-pull twist. I'd like to hear more from the minority effected-- hopefully the success of the movie will start this conversation, as the movie is extremely, extremely faithful to the book.