Hadrian the Seventh (Summarized Edition)

Hadrian the Seventh imagines the obscure English aspirant George Arthur Rose unexpectedly elected pope and ruling as Hadrian VII. Fusing meticulous liturgical detail with barbed satire, the novel stages reforms of the Curia, audacious diplomacy, and personal redress. Rolfe's prose is luxuriant and Latinate—ceremonial inventories, scholastic tags, and high comedy—yet steered by cool logic. Set at t...