La Plaça del Diamant (The Time of the Doves) is a deeply moving novel written by Mercè Rodoreda. The main characters live at the Plaça del Diamant in the popular Barvelona neighbourhood of Gràcia. The basic story is familiar. An impending conflict looms large. An ordinary shop assistant, Natalia, meets and falls in love with a man, Quimet. He is controlling and somewhat abusive, she fails to notice this and, of course marries him. War, Spanish Civil War, breaks out12. The novel pictures a young woman, Natalia, and her struggles in life as well as her relationships with two men: Quimet, her first husband, who dies in the war; and Antoni, her second husband3. Natalia is an innocent pastry shop worker in pre-Civil War Spain when she meets Quimet, a charming and eccentric man. After a strange courtship they marry and quickly have some lovely children. They are a young, struggling couple but have a nice life in lovely Barcelona4.