Feature: La Plaza del Diamante (The Time of the Doves) Considered a cornerstone of 20th-century Catalan literature, Mercè Rodoreda's (1962) is a deeply moving portrait of a woman’s survival in mid-century Barcelona. Often translated as The Time of the Doves , it follows the life of Natàlia—nicknamed "Colometa" (Little Pigeon)—against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and its harrowing aftermath.