Conclave (Steerforth Italia Series) - Softcover

Here, the Italian bestseller and multiple prize-winner reveals the secrets of the Vatican. The Conclave, the gathering of the world's Roman Catholic cardinals at the Vatican in complete isolation and secrecy after the death of the pope in order to elect a new spiritual leader, is the setting for Roberto Pazzi's latest novel, a magical fable rooted in the realities of today. A week, a month, four months go by and still the cardinals cannot come to a decision. The world outside grows impatient, but time inside the Vatican has another quality: suspended, symbolic. The cardinals conspire in secret meetings to advance their absurd political struggles with Kafkaesque determination. Who shall rise to don the vestments and wield the authority of the Holy See? A political activist from Latin America? A black cardinal from sub-Saharan Africa, the Church's leading growth market? A prominent Palestinian whose election would shake up geopolitics? Or has the time come for an Italian to once again wear the pope's mitre? A series of fantastic events intrudes to upset the conclavists' opulent comfort, steal their dignity, and undermine their faith.

The end result is a work of fabulist fiction of the highest order. Pazzi, winner of the Zerilli-Marimo Prize for "Italian Fiction", is widely considered as the successor to Italo Calvino, and he proves himself with this novel to hold the similar striking ability to turn history into remarkable fable.