The Time of the Doves

This novel by Mercè Rodoreda is very unique to me. I had never read a novel with this perspective, with this context, with this voice. Its writing style was emotion-less, without a strong tone, things were expressed, including really difficult situations to swallow as simple descriptions. At first, I wondered why the author would choose this, and after reflection, I personally think there was this attempt to separate the person and the feelings, as a mirror of the reality of Natalia. Clearly, as her life was filled with traumas and sufferings, a possible coping mechanism I perceived was being more indifferent, was to detach emotionally.

A quote I took away because of the way it was written was “Don’t you believe it. Marriage is something that lasts a lifetime, and you have to treat it with respect. You get dressed up on Sunday, don’t you? Well, a wedding is like a big Sunday. It needs ceremony. If people didn’t respect anything, it’d be like we were still savages. And you don’t want to be a savage, do you? (page 39). Although very separate from the entire plot, this was an example of a third character moment I appreciated.

On another note, what triggered me the most was the relationship Natalia had with Quimet. From beginning to end I was in awe at the way Natalia suffered from being a women in this relationship “Quimet didn’t see that I needed a little help myself instead of spending all my time helping others and no one cared how I felt and everyone kept asking me to do more like I was superhuman” (107). As the story progresses we can see the was Natalia becomes more and more dehumanized, both by the way the text is written (without emotions) and her reaction of normalizing not being considered/valued “It was a girl. They named her Rita” (74).

All in all, there was a lot going on, the relationships, the war, the children, yet I appreciated the constant characters, such as Senyora Enriqueta. She seemed like a strong source of support, like truly the women in the story could count on each other for advice and simply listening to each other. Nevertheless, the character of the grocer towards the end of the book brought a different light, it felt like there was a glimpse of motivation and more humanity to the text, similar to when she was offered a job at the grocery store.

My question is: What do you think was the purpose of the character of Quimet’s mother for the text? In what ways do you think Antoni and Rita perhaps emphasize the dynamic of Quimet and Natalia?