Mercè Rodoreda is widely regarded as the most important Catalan
writer of the twentieth century. Exiled to France during the
Spanish Civil War, and only able to return to Catalonia in the
mid-1960s, she wrote a number of highly praised works, including
The Time of the Doves and Death in Spring.
Martha Tennent was born in the U.S, but has lived most of her life
in Barcelona where she served as founding dean of the School of
Translation and Interpreting at the University of Vic. She
translates from Spanish and Catalan, and received an NEA
Translation Fellowship for her work on Rodoreda.
"The word modest comes to mind. Not modest in scope or ambition,
but modest in the rendering. Modest in the old-fashion sense of the
word: humble, thoughtful, stories which seem to beg your pardon for
taking the time to read them. These are stories best read on a
Sunday afternoon train ride through the rolling Spanish hill
country, a café con leche steaming next to you as white villages
pass your window. They whisper about the horrors of the war but
eschew bloodshed and scenes of battle. They offer poverty and
crushing despair by presenting characters filled with hopes and
dreams. They break your heart by making your root for the underdog
who doesn't stand a chance in hell."Richard Farrell, Numero
Cinq
"Rodoreda plumbs a sadness that reaches beyond historic
circumstances . . . an almost voluptuous vulnerability."The Nation
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