Institut Ramon LLull

The book begins with the public reading of the country’s last death sentence: an iconic photograph from twentieth-century Andorra. On this basis, the author reconstructs the fratricide that took place at the Cal Gastó house. One summer’s night in 1943, Pere picked up a shotgun and killed his brother, Anton, while he was sleeping in the bed they shared. What was his motive? Rubio offers a portrait of this fratricide and the backdrop to it, and asks a second question: after a century with no executions, why was Pere sentenced to be killed? To answer this, Rubio looks at the other characters involved and shows an Andorra that would soon change forever.

A sharp thud put Pere on high alert, listening out for thieves or fugitives. Another, unexpected gust of wind shook the whole house, just when Anton moved in his sleep and let out a snore. Pere jumped up. Frightened and furious, he confused Anton’s snoring with the threat he had heard, and he pulled the trigger on his shotgun.