56  Catalunya (Catalonia) –Mercè  Rodoreda  – In Diamond Square (Score 6.20

I  recommend that you read the prologue before (not after) you read this book.

I  was looking forward to reading this book because it had a good review in the New European in their European Literature section. However, I was extremely disappointed.

The  narrator, Natalia, married Joe, the young man who asked her to dance on fiesta night. They have two children.

The  first episode which really stuck in my mind was when the Catalonian Republic was declared, and the king and queen left. Then Natalya was looking for a morning job because Joe, a woodworker, was not getting much business. She described the house where she would be working in ludicrous detail, but had the grace to say, eventually, that she had gone on a bit.

The  book began to be tedious and my intended score had dropped from 8.0 to 6.0 by page 160, about half way through.

Joe  joined the militia on the Catalan side when the Spanish Civil War was declared. Natalia had to start selling all their possessions to feed herself and the children. There was always someone willing to buy them, at less than she hoped, so some were profiting from the war.

It  was clear, though, that some kind people bought them at a higher price to help her out. Joe’s death did not help her.

By  the time I had struggled through to the end of the book my score had dropped to 4.0.