For mysterious reasons, a man forsakes his American life and arrives in a strang
e country called "Andorra." He settles into the grand--and only--hotel in its se
aside capital, and gradually makes the aquaintance of this tiny city's most prom
inent residents: the ancient Mrs. Reinhardt, who has a lifetime lease on the pen
thouse in the hotel; Sophonsobia Quay, the kayaking matriarch of an Andorran dyn
asty; and the Ricky Dents, an Australian couple who share a first name, a gigant
ic dog, and a volatile secret. As the stranger reveals himself to his new friend
s, and becomes entangled in their lives, the mystery of his own origin deepens.
What is he hiding, and why? And when a mutilated dead body appears in the harbor
, everyone is a suspect, including our narrator. Part thriller, part comedy of m
anners, part surrealistic dream, "Andorra" is "a work of remarkable and sustaine
d invention and imagination . . . a nearly perfect book" (Robert Drake, "The Phi
ladelphia Inquirer").
