Hadrian the Seventh : Historical Novel - A Story of The Reformer

In 2014, The Guardian placed "Hadrian the Seventh" on the list of the 100 best novels written in English. A historical novel by the English novelist Frederick Rolfe, it is based on his essay the Papal Conclave to elect the successor to Pope Leo XIII. It tells about an English priest that got invited by two Catholic priests to Rome, where the Conclave was gathered to elect the new Pope. Suddenly, the Conclave gives this position to him, and since the only previous English Pope was Adrian (or Hadrian) IV, he takes the name Hadrian VII. He is an unconventional pope - a chain smoker wishing to reform the church against fierce opposition from the established Roman Catholic hierarchy. Will he manage to stand the plots and intrigues, and is his reform needed? Those are the matters for readers to discover.