📚 Finished reading Conclave by Robert Harris.

I joined the macabre throng of people who suddenly found renewed interest in this Pope-related thriller after the real-life death of Pope Francis earlier this year.

It’s now a popular film, but in its original form it was this book. It is of course fiction - and let’s hope the specific story told in the book never comes true. But I did read somewhere that the depiction of the process of selecting a new pope - the “conclave” - is relatively accurate. Wikipedia tells us that IRL Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor thought so at least - although be very cautious about clicking on that link if you don’t want any spoilers.

Anyway, to the extent that it does reflect the reality of the process, it can only have increased my previously rather sparse knowledge of the procedures involved, whilst being an extremely gripping story in its own right.