Summary of In Diamond Square – The Time of Doves
“In Diamond Square” – also published in English as “The Time of the Doves” – tells the life story of Natàlia, nicknamed ‘la Colometa’ (the girl with the pigeons), a Catalan woman living in Barcelona during the 1930s. We first meet her as a young woman dancing in Plaça del Diamant, in Barcelona’s Gràcia neighbourhood. The novel follows her as she marries the wrong man, becomes a mother, and struggles to survive and feed her children during the Spanish Civil War.
Reasons to read In Diamond Square – The Time of Doves
“The Time of the Doves” is a modern classic of Catalan literature and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Merce Rodoreda is widely considered as the most influential Catalan writer of the 20th century. She was awarded the Premi D’Honor de les Lletres Catalanes, a lifetime achievement award in Catalan literature, in 1980. Another of Rodoreda’s masterpieces is the novel “A Broken Mirror” (“Mirall Trencat”), which is also set in Barcelona.
Setting: Barcelona (Spain)
Original title: La plaça del diamant
Year of publication: 1962
Nr of pages: 208
