In this first book to be published in English, Catalan writer
Rodoreda has artfully reconstructed the experiences of a Barcelona
shop girl throughout her sharp joys, dogged toil, and nightmare
hardship before, during, and after the Spanish Civil War. Her name
is Natalia, but at the dance in the square, carpenter Quimet - an
overpowering man with the "monkey eyes" - insists that she's his
"Colometa" (little dove) and that they will marry. And before long
capricious and obsessive Quimet is indeed overseeing captured-bird
Colometa: he must have a perfect, spotless apartment; he treats his
bride to little cruelties and offhand generosities; two children
are born. But there are rumbles of Revolution, and when Quimet's
business declines, Colometa takes on hard domestic work for rich
people. . . while real doves are collecting in the apartment
(Quimet's latest enthusiasm). She's harried by grinding labor, by
fear for her often-unattended children, by Quimet's frequent
absences, by diminishing funds. And after Colometa sabotages the
dove-breeding, Quimet and his friends (once rowdy, now sobered)
disappear forever like another flock that never existed, leaving
Colometa and her children to poverty and starvation. Colometa plans
suicide, dreams of her children killed like doves in their shells
by furious hands - but the family will be rescued in time by a kind
elderly grocer, who marries Colometa and raises her children to be
settled, undistinguished adults. Finally, however, before accepting
good fortune and love, Colometa must let out the scream she's been
nursing, let go of her aborted youth. An appealing and well-crafted
tale of a young woman who's victimized not only by war and cruel
men but by her own unexamined sensibility; moving work from a
gifted, if rather special, writer. (Kirkus Reviews)
The Time of the Doves - by Merce Rodoreda - is the powerfully
written story of a naive shop-tender during the Spanish Civil War
and beyond, is a rare and moving portrait of a simple soul
confronting and surviving a convulsive period in history. The book
has been widely translated, and was made into a film.
General
Imprint: |
Graywolf Press,U.S.
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
November 1986 |
First published: |
October 1986 |
Authors: |
Merce Rodoreda
|
Dimensions: |
213 x 134 x 16mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
201 |
Edition: |
New edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-915308-75-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
0-915308-75-4 |
Barcode: |
9780915308750 |
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