When Rogelio Villaverde finds himself destitute and desperate for employment, he leaps at the chance for work with The Tribune, a small newspaper in San Salvador. The jumbled pieces of his life begin to fall neatly into place with his new job, a new love interest—Lourdes, a new lease on life.
But the recent military coup d’etat brings curfews and martial law. Rogelio’s work with the newspaper plunges him into the political melee. He is forced to discard his political ambivalence and take a position. He can no longer remain indifferent in the face of the chaos that has overtaken the lives of everyone around him. His anti-government sentiments peak with the assassination of Archbishop Romero and the aftermath, when soldiers opened fire on the throngs of mourners.
Rogelio’s first instinct is to escape the madness and accompany his boss and friend into exile. But destiny takes another radical twist, and chilling events seal Rogelio’s fate. He is compelled to remain and join the struggle for justice and freedom in his homeland.
More than a political novel, A Shot in the Cathedral is a tribute to the endurance of the human spirit. Its protagonists are ordinary people who strive to live ordinary lives in the midst of dangerous and oppressive circumstances.
