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  • Conclave
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Conclave Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Robert Harris (Author), Roy Mcmillan (Narrator), Penguin Audio (Publisher)
4.4 out of 5 stars 39,019 ratings

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Brought to you by Penguin.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

***Now a Bafta and Oscar winning major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini***

What happens behind the closed doors of the Roman Catholic Conclave? The mysterious rituals surrounding the congregation of cardinal electors responsible for electing a new pope is brilliantly researched by Robert Harris, bringing an age old tradition to life. Set against the swirling of religious theory comes an explosive political drama that will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Pope is dead.

Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, 118 cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.

Over the next 72 hours, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.

'Unputdownable' Guardian
'Gripping' Sunday Times

2016 Robert Harris (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks

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Previous slide of product details
  1. Listening Length
    8 hours and 21 minutes
  2. Author
    Robert Harris
  3. Narrator
    Roy Mcmillan
  4. Audible release date
    Sept. 22 2016
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Penguin Audio
  7. ASIN
    B071ZPGT1J
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
Next slide of product details

Product details

Listening Length 8 hours and 21 minutes
Author Robert Harris
Narrator Roy Mcmillan
Audible.ca Release Date September 22 2016
Publisher Penguin Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B071ZPGT1J
鶹 Rank

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4.4 out of 5 stars
39,019 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the content interesting, well-written, and worth reading just for the punchline. They also describe the story as compelling, suspenseful, and highly suspenseful. Opinions are mixed on the ending, with some finding it unexpected and surprising, while others say it's unbelievable.

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ContentStoryEnding
39 customers mention "Content"39 positive0 negative

Customers find the content interesting, well-written, and worth reading just for the punchline. They describe the prose as beautiful and flowing throughout. Readers also mention the book is a page-turner and opened their minds about lots of things.

"...Those who have a catholic background will enjoy it more. Great book !!!" Read more

"...So few differences that not worth it. It is well written and gives a rare insight into church politics. I would say- watch the movie...." Read more

"An intriguing story. I was not prepared for the ending. Truly a good read, it may seem slow at first but when you get to the end you understand why." Read more

"A very good read. Deals with the process to select a new Pope. Fascinating and gripping twist in the ending...." Read more

11 customers mention "Story"9 positive2 negative

Customers find the story compelling, suspenseful, and gripping. They also say it's a mixture of facts and fiction.

"Always reliable Harris. Good character and story." Read more

"...Far from being dull, this is a compelling, tense, and highly suspenseful story...." Read more

"...The book is a mixture of facts and fiction , written as a novel . Those who have a catholic background will enjoy it more. Great book !!!" Read more

"Eloquence, intelligence and suspense combine to keep you turning the page deep into the night. Loved this book." Read more

11 customers mention "Ending"7 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the ending of the book. Some mention it's unexpected and surprising, while others say it's over too soon.

"This is a well written novel that has an unexpected ending that both shocked and amused me...." Read more

"A good read with an unbelievable ending. But I guess that's fine for fiction...." Read more

"...Deals with the process to select a new Pope. Fascinating and gripping twist in the ending...." Read more

"...I couldn’t put this book down. A delicious, satisfying ending. It’s only sin was that it was over too soon." Read more

Top reviews from Canada

  • Carolyn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, tense story about selecting a new Pope
    Reviewed in Canada on April 6, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I watched the excellent movie before reading the book and felt both helped clarify my understanding.
    The movie needed clarification about some of the character's schemes and deceptions. Further explanations in the book solved this. The novel made it difficult to sort out all the characters, but when the movie put faces on the Cardinals, it was much easier to identify them.

    The Pope has just died, and 118 Cardinals from all over the world have gathered to select a new Pope worthy of the spiritual role. The Conclave is the secret but much-followed process of appointing a new Pope. This is a highly political process combined with religious faith. The well-described, multi-dimensional fictional Cardinals are divided between a leading candidate, Tedesco, who wants to overturn Vatican 11 and restore the Church to more conservative views, and Bellini, a friend of Lomeli, who has liberal views. Bellini says he would never accept the position if elected.

    A previously unknown Cardinal, Benitez, secretly appointed to the position by the late Pope has arrived. He was originally from the Philippines, where he worked with the most impoverished and then in trouble spots in Africa and Baghdad. His appointment from Archbishop to Cardinal was secret to protect his safety in war zones. His time was spent with victims of war, especially women who were raped by the enemies in genocidal brutality. He insists he has the right to choose the next Pope and is accepted into the group of electors.

    The 118 highly religious men have ambitions to be Pope or are afraid of being chosen for the role. They commit deceit and betrayal against their rivals and plot to have their favourites advance in the voting. There are acts of simony where church funds are used to buy votes. Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, oversees the Conclave and is having doubts about his faith. The process is a long, drawn-out affair, and seven times ending with no person with sufficient votes. Each time, the names and order of candidates vary. Lomeli gives a fine speech, emphasizing tolerance and forgiveness, but acts harshly when he discovers that the leading candidate, African Cardinal Adeyemi, had an affair thirty years earlier, and the woman is brought to the Sistine Chapel from Nigeria by a rival to discredit Adeyemi. Lomeli makes him resign any hopes of becoming the first Black Pope. Lomeli is bothered by the report that Cardinal Trembly, a French-Canadian, was fired by the late Pope just before his death but can't discover why. As the voting drags on, Lomeli receives votes and ponders the possibility of becoming Pope.

    Far from being dull, this is a compelling, tense, and highly suspenseful story. Harris has done intensive research and presents a masterful portrayal of the routines and rituals involved in the Conclave. I was pleased with the person finally chosen as the new Pope but felt the final reveal was unnecessary and bound to provoke controversy.
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  • Lorraine S.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping novel with an outlandish ending
    Reviewed in Canada on October 29, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    It's been many years since I've read a novel that I have been so wrapped up in. I read this in one day, sitting with my nose in my Kindle when I should have been doing any number of other things - I simply could not put it down. What a disappointment, then, when I got to the ending and found it to be so utterly ridiculous that even as a non-Catholic who previously knew little to nothing about the process of electing a new Pope, I felt like the victim of a bait and switch - I was baited with a thoughtful novel with an especially sympathetic, well-drawn protagonist, only to be tricked with a sensationalistic, "woke" (a term I hate and rarely use) conclusion that simply, in my opinion, does not work. Of course many disagree with me, including those raving about the recently released Hollywood film (which I definitely won't be seeing now). I may be in the minority, but I feel that the novel would have worked far better as a straightforward story without the twist at the end, which only serves to cheapen the entire endeavour.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Daniel Davidson
    5.0 out of 5 stars a gripping read
    Reviewed in Canada on May 20, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I look forward to seeing the movie, but I am glad to have read the book first. So much of this narrative involves the Dean’s fears and reflections that these will not be as obvious in the film. I doubt they will resort to using a voice over narrative. It’s interesting to read this so soon after an actual Conclave. Also, there are so many obscure terms in the text that it was good to have immediate access to reference materials while resdimg.
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  • Neal
    5.0 out of 5 stars What an ending!
    Reviewed in Canada on November 14, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This is a well written novel that has an unexpected ending that both shocked and amused me. I'll admit, it is a little too heavy, for me, in Christian liturgy but even with that being the case, the story keeps you engaged. I think you will enjoy it, especially the ending.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Lin Thompson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Choose movie or book
    Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2025
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    The movie is based so closely on the book that it is wise to decide on one. I watched the movie first and then read the book. So few differences that not worth it. It is well written and gives a rare insight into church politics. I would say- watch the movie. Do not read the book.
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  • lexie2
    3.0 out of 5 stars The book betrays itself...
    Reviewed in Canada on October 30, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I loved this book - until right at the end. Robert Harris takes immense trouble to give us character studies of the Cardinals who are involved in choosing a new Pope to head the Church. We see their ambitions, their inner turmoil, we see their relationships. Brilliantly done. Then at the end, he throws it all away in favour of a plot twist that has little to do with all that has gone before. I feel cheated.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • I was notified my parcel was left near the front or side door. After checking all our entrances, I found it in the mailbox. That is not my preferred delivery location, That’s for my mail.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Delivery location. Not as stated or requested.
    Reviewed in Canada on April 23, 2025
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    My item was fine but it was put in my rural mail box, not at any door at my house.
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  • lynn d.
    4.0 out of 5 stars boring
    Reviewed in Canada on March 3, 2025
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    I have not seen the movie but the book was a real letdown. It was actually boring till the end.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Hewy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Conclave
    Reviewed in Australia on May 19, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    How prescient to be reading this at the time of the death of a Pope - a funeral - a Conclave. And finally the election of a new Pope.

    Fascinating and absorbing read. Quite a thriller. I think I read it as a documentary! So real.

    Do read this immaculately researched book - it was quite a ride.
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  • Kindle Customer Paula
    5.0 out of 5 stars Divine Decisions
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    I’m not sure that another review of a book concerning one of the hot topics of the moment is necessary, given that everybody’s watching the film for the fictional version and the news for the real version—which has probably been decided by the time I publish this—but I’ve read it and I always review, or rate at the very least, so why should this one be any different?

    I saw the film a couple of months ago, and I was disappointed to say the least when all the talk on social media which has arisen since the demise of Pope Francis has been about the film. Not one mention could I find of the book by Robert Harris upon which it was based, until the day before the real conclave began, when the author appeared in an interview widely broadcast on the news—thank goodness for that.

    To the book then. The makers of the film have made some changes, the greatest of which is that the Italian Cardinal Lomeli of the book has become the English Cardinal Lawrence, which I suppose makes a sort of sense for the English-speaking audience at which the film is aimed—and I can’t imagine that a great actor like Ralph Fiennes couldn’t make as great a job of Lomeli as he does of Lawrence. Additionally, the new-cardinal-on-the block is Philipino, rather than Mexican as in the film, and he’s the Archbishop of Baghdad, rather than Kabul—although in the film he’s moved on from the former to the latter, presumably because of the happenings in Afghanistan since the book was written.

    Aside from that, it’s a straightforward story of how a new Pope is elected, the cardinals voting for their peers in the same manner as we in the UK see our political parties electing a new party leader. The no-hopers drop by the wayside as several strong candidates emerge, and then it’s down to the consciences of all to give their votes to one of these—simple, right? Wrong. Just as the doors are to be sealed, the cardinals left to commune with the deity and decide, Lomeli receives some unsettling news about one of the major candidates—and then the whole thing begins to unravel, with several other skeletons coming out of the closet, obliging Lomeli to turn sleuth in the cause of making sure the cardinal elected is worthy of the high office conferred upon him.

    The success enjoyed by this book is remarkable, given that it concerns a group of celibate elderly men, with such females as feature staying very much in the background—apart from Sister Agnes, the chief nun of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, who plays a significant role. Descended from the family of a nun who was guillotined during the French Revolution for not abandoning her views, Agnes is formidable—noted by Lomeli as one who’d never break, even if burned at the stake, and the kind of woman he’d have liked to marry, had that option been open to him. The other main characters—Lomeli, Tremblay, Benitez, Adeyemi and Bellini—are written with good breadth and depth, and issues such as political leanings, race and sexuality (or the lack thereof) are dealt with. There’s also no shying-away from the fact that beneath the robes of office they’re all human beings, complete with flaws. There’s also good attention to the details of how a conclave is run, and a comprehensive list of sources the author consulted for the work is given in the ‘Acknowledgements’ at the back.

    All in all, a satisfying story which I can’t help but recommend.
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  • Blu
    5.0 out of 5 stars P O W E R F U L .
    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    "The only guide to a person's actions can ever be their conscience, for it is in our conscience that we most clearly hear the voice of God" (p. 224).

    A stunning portrayal of the ultimate beauty pageant: who will succeed the deceased Pope? The protagonist, 75 year old Jacopo Baldassare Lomeli, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, is the Dean Of The College Of Cardinals, responsible for administering the election of the next Pope, aka, the conclave. A fascinating foray delving into the contest battling personalities and politics. In short, traditionalists versus progressives.-- all locked together in the Vatican sanitized of computers /phones -- 118 electors. Two-thirds (2/3) total votes required (e.g., 79) which demonstrates the intangible powers of faith. Not an adventure tale, but, just as thrilling, suspenseful, and, gripping.
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  • Lydia
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in Italy on May 24, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent read, couldn't put it down.
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  • Guida
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
    Reviewed in Brazil on March 27, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Excelente. Muito interessante, nos leva a conhecer a política religiosa e os conchavos no Vaticano.
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