At first I found some of it confusing, but after awhile, it became clearer as the author explained people's roles more in depth. Narrator Roy Mcmillan did not try to create multiple vocal characterisations, but he was able to add the right amount of accent and inflection as required to most of the main characters in a pleasant and palatable story telling voice. My health (and general demeanour) demand that I have an inordinate amount of sleep to remain some level of sanity!

At its roots this is as political a process as the election of a new leader of a political party would be, with the various candidates jockeying for position, some more ruthlessly than others. I didn’t know until I was 24, when my godmother mentioned it to me, but I did spend a bit of time inside the Catholic church growing up, with one neighborhood girl who enjoyed “sneaking” in to light the candles.Diagonally across the landing, outside the papal suite, three nuns, members of the Company of Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, were holding hands and crying. Despite all the precautions, there are always those who will go to great lengths to circumvent any system. The pope has died, descriptions of a peoples pope, a pope who refused to live in the grandeur of the Vatican apartments, point to this representing our current Pope, Francis. The pace of the story is increases and builds, through twists and turns, to a shocking and even unbelievable climax.

If the ending was the beginning and how the world reacted to it - then possibly, it would have been a more thorough and engaging book. It is only the second time this year that I have had the experience of having to force myself to take off my headphones while listening to my audiobook.I don’t know whether this is due to journalistic background, but they all had clear physical and character traits described which meant you weren’t constantly wondering who was who. Unconcerned with religious debate or philosophical argument, Conclave quickly descends into high camp.