In Diamond Square

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Barcelona, early 1930s: Natalia is hesitant when a stranger asks her to dance at the fiesta in Diamond Square. But Joe is charming and forceful, and she takes his hand. They marry and soon have two children; for Natalia it is an awakening, both good and bad. When Joe decides to breed pigeons, the birds delight his son and daughter - and infuriate his wife. Then the Spanish Civil War erupts, and lays waste to the city and to their simple existence. Natalia remains in Barcelona, struggling to feed her family, while Joe goes to fight the fascists, and one by one his beloved birds fly away. 'The fierce beauty of Rodoreda's writing makes it one of the masterpieces of modern European literature . . . Here the epic struggle is not in the trenches, but in a young woman's fight to understand love and loss and to survive war and hunger' Independent 'An extremely moving love story, which reveals much about the Spanish Civil War as ordinary people had to live it. Merce Rodoreda's artistry is of the highest order' Diana Athill